All That I'm Living For (Live or Die Series Part 1)
by MusicChiller20
Summary: Receiving death threats that potentially endanger his only daughter, Juliana, Jerald Harrison hires Undertaker to protect her. Accompanied by Juliana's best friend John, all three embark on a journey full of misery, heartbreak, laughter and passion to unravel why Juliana's life hangs in the balance. The only question is: Will Undertaker be able to save Juliana from her fate?
1. Chapter 1

**All That I'm Living For  
**(Live or Die Series Part 1)

Chapter 1

Juliana sat in the chair of her father's study, hands clasped together in her lap, and listened as he ranted and raved about the latest death threat their family received. This had been going on for close to four months now and Jerald Harrison started to fear for his family's safety. They were a powerful family, very wealthy, so it was no surprise that they were being targeted.

"I understand, father." She complied in a soft voice, biting her bottom lip, not liking what she heard next.

Jerald studied his daughter, his only child, thoughtfully. "I want you to meet your bodyguard." He announced at last, rising up from his desk after hitting a button on the intercom, looking expectantly towards the door. "He will accompany you EVERYWHERE, on grounds and off. Though, I would prefer you to keep as close to home as possible." He sighed, looking mildly startled as the door silently swung open, almost taking a step back, but not quite. "Juliana," He gestured for her to rise. "Meet your bodyguard." Jerald cleared his throat, staring at the dangerous looking man before him.

Nodding without a word, Juliana rose from her chair, her baby blue gown flowing down her body, and slowly turned around to face him. Her big midnight blue eyes widened in shock, black hair flowing down her back and hugging her waist to perfection, not believing the size of this man. Her already pale complexion went even whiter as she clasped her hands in front of her, trying not to tremble, even though it was close to impossible. Clearing her throat, Juliana curtsied to the large intimidating man before her, bowing her head.

"It's nice to meet you, sir." Juliana murmured very quietly.

Undertaker studied the pale overly fragile girl before him, his face in a carefully arranged neutral expression. His intense acid green eyes were hidden behind a pair of sunglasses. His long, black hair was pulled back into one long braid, a black bandana wrapped around his head. He wore tight fitting black jeans, black steel toed boots, and a black leather vest, showcasing his heavily tattooed arms. He nodded first at Jerald then to the girl.

"Hey." He rumbled, not surprised when Jerald jumped a little, his deep baritone tended to do that. "Call me Taker."

Coaching herself to breathe, Juliana looked back at her father, asking him silently with her eyes if he was crazy. This man before her could break her in half if he chose and that terrified her. She turned to face her father, shaky hands clamping on the chair before her, and stared into his apprehensive brown eyes. She'd inherited her blue eyes from her mother and Jerald's black hair.

"Father, I don't mean to be rude, but is this really necessary?" Her voice was barely audible.

Juliana was not the type who defied her father's wishes by any means, even if he did pass her over to Kenneth Anderson, the son of his adversary's family. The Harrison's and Anderson's had fought for years, but the families were finally joining forces with the marriage between her and Kenneth. She didn't approve of it, but didn't defy her father either.

"It is, Juliana. These threats are beginning to get out of control, as well as the subterfuge." Jerald frowned, that last bit he'd found out this morning, not liking his assets being sneak attacked by whoever it was out to kill him and his daughter. "Undertaker is the best in his profession. No damage to his principals or injuries. You'll be in go-er…safe hands."

Undertaker arched a black eyebrow, studying her, already familiarizing himself with her body language. Timid, shy, hesitant…these were all the things her posture and tone of voice were telling him at the moment. He was a master at reading people, one of the many reasons he was hired for protection. That and he was extremely gifted in knowing when danger was near, a skilled fighter as well.

"I understand, father." Juliana quietly replied, knowing she had stepped out of line, even though Jerald didn't sound angry with her. "I will do as you ask and allow this…gentleman…to escort me wherever I go. Have you informed Mr. Anderson about this?" She asked, referring to her obligated fiancé, and sighed deeply at the thought.

The man was cocky and arrogant. Two qualities that didn't thrill her, but Juliana would have to get over it. He would be her husband and there was no way out of the marriage.

"KENNETH," Jerald corrected pointedly, wishing she would dispense with the formality when it came to her fiancé. "Has been informed of the situation prior to our little chat. He readily agreed with this whole idea."

What Jerald wasn't aware of, behind the enthusiastic agreement behind Kenneth's voice, was a rather pissed off fiancé. Not thrilled with the idea of his soon to be wife being trailed around by some strange man. Kenneth had offered to take the position of protecting Juliana, but Jerald declined, telling the young lad his life was far too valuable to be put a risk this dangerous.

"You're dismissed, Juliana. I have other matters I have to manage straight away." Jerald smiled tightly at her, no love in it, before setting back down and resumed his work.

"Yes father." She replied and turned around, staring at this large individual who had been assigned her bodyguard, inhaling a deep breath.

Not saying a word to him as she vacated the room, Juliana felt completely helpless. No matter how many times her father corrected her; Juliana would never stop calling Kenneth by his formal name. She hardly knew him and didn't find his arrogance attractive. That's the way it would stay, even after they married. Juliana looked around the huge sitting room that they walked into, which linked to her father's study, and decided she needed some air. She was scared to death now, not only by the death threats her family received, but now this large man who was being paid to follow her around. He unnerved her already and made her very uncomfortable, skittish even.

'Stop it, Jules. This is for your own good.' She mentally berated before walking out of the sitting room and toward the veranda that led to their huge backyard.

Undertaker followed her at a slow steady pace, his own body language sending off an air of confidence. Though, if someone looked a little closer, they would see the wariness in his movements. Always prepared for whatever might be tossed at Juliana's way, not concerned for his own safety. He leaned against a wall, folding his arms over his chest, and watched her intently. One hand hung somewhat loosely just in case he had to reach for one of the many weapons he concealed. Jerald hadn't been lying when he said Undertaker was the best.

She walked outside on the veranda and downstairs, arriving in the courtyard. Hundreds of bushes weaved and designed to her father's liking brought more beauty to the area. Juliana didn't care about them as she kept walking, finally finding her nearby bench, the one she'd occupied as of late, and sat down on it. The sun shined brightly, but thanks to the bushes, it barely shined on her. Burying her face in her hands, Juliana tried willing the tears to stay in her eyes. Her heart thudded in her chest and she had absolutely no idea what would happen now. Her wedding would have to be postponed along with any of her father's upcoming engagements and events. Although Juliana was secretly thrilled about her wedding being postponed, she still couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible was going to happen.

Undertaker studied what actually looked like a giant maze and frowned, following her in it. He watched her intently, the frown deepening when he seen her go straight to one spot. So this was a regular thing for her. Well that would change. Undertaker moved to stand at her side, firmly taking her upper arm in his hand, his fingers alone encircling her arm.

"You come here too much." He stated evenly, not giving anything he thought away or putting any emotions in it. "You'll make yourself an easy target if you're being watched."

Juliana literally jumped out of her skin when his hand wrapped around her tiny arm and pulled her up from the bench. Her eyebrow rose in question at this man and immediately ripped her arm out of his grasp. Wincing since it hurt, Juliana stumbled away from him, self-pity temporarily forgotten.

"Do not touch me, sir. My father is paying you to WATCH me, not touch me." She informed him in a shaky cool voice, rubbing her arm, and took another step back from him.

This man was downright frightening and extraordinarily strong.

"Exactly. Your FATHER is paying me. Not you, which means I take his _orders_," Undertaker made that last word sound more like Jerald made suggestions then actual orders. "And not yours. You take mine. I'm here to make sure you wake up each morning, which means YOU'LL do as I say. Are we clear?" Undertaker's tone dropped to a chilling calm.

"You are not to touch me or I will tell my father." Juliana feebly threatened, wishing her heart would stop pounding against her chest so she could actually think.

Her midnight blue eyes stared back at him, seeing his own were hidden behind those black sunglasses, and swallowed hard. Not looking the least bit concerned, Undertaker had already laid down his ground rules with Jerald. It protected his precious daughter his way and dealt with it or he could go take a flying leap off a short pier. Jerald had agreed almost instantly because Undertaker's professional record was just that impressive.

"Tell daddy if it'll make you feel better, Princess." He shrugged, peering at Juliana over the top of his shades, letting her see his eyes for a moment.

Just by the tone of his voice and what his eyes held, Juliana knew her father had basically signed her OWN death warrant. This man was menacing, scared her half to death, and now he was allowed to put his hands on her? Where was the justice? When did she have a say so in what happened in her life? Never. Sadness entered her eyes as Juliana clasped her hands in front of her and bowed her head in shame. No matter what she did in her life, Juliana would never have the freedom to tell anyone how she really felt because it wouldn't matter.

"I apologize, sir. I will do what you say." Her voice shook, trembling even, along with her bottom lip and her hair covered her face.

"I'm not going to put my hands on you in the matter you're thinking." Undertaker said, as if reading her mind, when it was her own body that actually gave her away. The way she hung her head, her shoulders slumped forward. "And the name is Taker. Now…what else do you do? Show me what your routine is." He demanded, tone never changing.

"There is really no routine." Juliana quietly said, keeping her head bowed, and cleared her throat a little. "This is one of my favorite spots." She gestured to the bench, tears filling her eyes. "Where I come to…think."

She sighed, heading up the stairs away from her bench and back into the mansion. Juliana was Jerald's only child, so with that, she didn't have to lift a finger to do anything. Though, she did help the servants by keeping her room and bathroom spotless, cleaning it herself, refusing to make them do more than already required. Juliana had a heart of gold and everyone loved her as she started showing him a tour of the mansion.

Undertaker wasn't pleased. He took note of each and every staff member to cross their path, intent on going through some files after the Princess was asleep. He was already making mental changes to the house. Having every intention of handing in a paper with the changes on it to Jerald the next morning, demanding they be made, which Undertaker already knew would happen.

"Show me your room." He ordered flatly.

"Why would you need to see my room?" Juliana instantly demanded, stopping dead in her tracks, and turned around to face him. "Forgive me, sir, but that's for MY eyes and mine alone."

She refused to show him her room, not caring if he beat her within an inch of her life. Her room was just that: HERS. Undertaker sighed heavily, slowly reaching up to pull off his sunglasses, folding them and tucking them into a pocket on the inside of his sleeveless leather vest, staring down at her calculatingly.

"I want to look it over." He stated, leaving no room for argument.

Not about to comply with his wishes, Juliana went to debate with Undertaker, when she heard bellowing sound throughout the mansion. Juliana's head instantly dropped forward, knowing exactly who it was, and cleared her throat. Undertaker narrowed his eyes slightly at the angry tone of the voice that seemingly echoed around them, feeling his jaw tighten instantaneously.

"I think it's time for you to meet Mr. Anderson." She softly informed him, not able to hide the disdain that dripped in her voice, and turned to walk down the winding staircase.

Juliana stopped on the third step, seeing Kenneth pacing like a caged animal, and headed down the rest of the stairs. Kenneth halted his pacing when he spotted Juliana, his eyes instantly moving up to the monstrous man who stood only a few feet behind her. Sizing the guy up, Kenneth was aware he was being sized up as well.

"So THIS is who your father hired…" Kenneth said scathingly, extending a hand to her. "Walk with me, Juliana." It wasn't a request and everyone knew it.

Sighing deeply, Juliana began walking toward the man she was forced to spend the rest of her life with, keeping her eyes on the floor and allowed him to take her hand in his own. Such sadness and sorrow consumed her, but all she did was tuck a strand of hair behind her ear and kept her arm at her side. How Juliana wished, night after night, that she wasn't a Harrison because it came with far too much responsibility for her liking and at too high of a price.

"This isn't my decision and father said you were fine with this." She softly said, wincing a little since he tugged on her arm, the same arm Undertaker hurt earlier on, and bit back a yelp of pain as tears stung her eyes.

"What are you crying for?" Kenneth demanded, holding on even tighter when it seemed like she might try pulling away, blue eyes narrowing to slits when she cried out again softly.

"Let her go." Undertaker ordered, having a pretty good idea of why she had done that.

He did have a grip that was too firm and seldom paid attention to his own strength. Though, it seemed Undertaker would have to from now on with her, especially given how fragile she was. Daddy dearest would not appreciate his princess being marked by her protector after all.

"You're here to protect her from crazies, not me." Kenneth spat, not appreciating this mongrel's interference in their private conversation.

"From everyone." Undertaker corrected, green eyes narrowing to slits at the man engaged to Juliana.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Mr. Anderson, please let go…" Juliana whispered out pleadingly, tears coursing down her face, and winced when he pulled her even tighter to him.

Her arm throbbed painfully and would be bruised from both of these men basically manhandling her. Of course, Juliana was used to it with Kenneth. He wasn't a man of patience or understanding. Juliana knew her father had sugarcoated how he really felt about this situation, but this wasn't her call to make and wished Kenneth would understand that.

Undertaker sighed, crossing to them in a matter of seconds, and soon had Mr. Anderson bent double. Both hands twisted behind his back at an angle not meant to be experienced by anyone, almost on the snapping point. In all fairness, he had warned the boy to release her and he hadn't complied, therefore Undertaker was entitled to take physical action.

"You heard her, MR. ANDERSON." Undertaker said almost conversationally. Though, there a very evil tinge laced in his voice. He looked at Juliana then to her arm. "Are you alright?"

Juliana stood there dumbfounded, her big midnight blue eyes blinking rapidly, and nodded while rubbing her arm. "Yes, I'm fine. Please, don't hurt him, Taker. Mr. Anderson didn't mean any harm, he's just worried."

Of course, she lied through her teeth, but Juliana could never bear seeing anyone hurt. That's not the type of person she was. Juliana winced more, wiping her tears away, and took a tentative step toward them.

Undertaker was more than aware she was lying. This jag off was going to be an abusive husband, that was obvious. Oh well though, Undertaker's job was to protect her now so Kenny boy wouldn't be laying a finger on her. Once his job here was done, it wasn't his problem. He let Kenneth go, stepping away quietly.

"You animal!" Kenneth coughed, rubbing his arms, staring at him like he was a mad dog. "Juliana, your father CANNOT allow this…monster…to look after you! We'll go see him right now!"

"He's already given my father his demands, Mr. Anderson. Trust me; there is nothing that can be done." Juliana informed her future husband coolly, rubbing her arm more. Almost sounding thrilled about it, she watched impassively as Kenneth's face turned red. "I am sorry, Mr. Anderson, if you wish to speak to my father, he's in the study." She suggested, gesturing toward the door that led to the sitting room and her father's study, where he busied at work. "Maybe you can change his mind."

"I'll do that." Kenneth said, shooting the bodyguard another dark look. He kissed her forehead, gritting his teeth. "You wait here for me, Julie." He ordered before storming off to find Mr. Harrison.

Undertaker shook his head, snorting stiffly. "Nice choice." He said in a low drawl, his lips curving into a smirk. "He'll definitely make a GREAT husband." His voice dripped with sarcasm.

"It is not my decision, Taker." Her voice held such sadness.

Juliana moved toward the window and peered out of it, her back facing him. If it had been her decision, she would've told Kenneth what he could do with his proposal. Under the circumstances, however, she had no alternative. Her life was already set and Juliana hated it. She hated not having freedom and it broke her heart. She'd talked to her father many times about Kenneth, but all he ever did was remind her of the obligations she had to fulfill for the family name.

Grunting, Undertaker folded his arms across his chest and didn't say anything. He had seen everything out there and this was nothing new to him. Either she'd sprout some balls or become a little timid trophy wife, old at thirty and probably abandoned before she hit thirty-five. He wasn't here to play shrink; he was here to protect her backside. Ian tilted his head to the side for a moment, not able to help admiring her pert backside for a moment or two.

"I'm going outside." Juliana announced, no argument in her voice, not caring if Ken told her to wait for him or not.

She needed air, not giving Undertaker the chance to speak, before exiting the room and back out to the courtyard. Walking through the maze, Juliana sniffled as she went, tears falling on the ground with every step she took and didn't care. She finally arrived on the other side and stopped, sitting down on her swing that hooked to a beautiful weeping willow tree. Juliana started gently swinging while watching the gorgeous sunset on the horizon, just needing a moment of tranquility.

Of course Undertaker followed her, silent as usual. He leaned against the willow after doing a visual check, watching her. His mouth set in a grim line, knowing this wasn't a smart place for a swing. In fact, his ideal place for Juliana would be a room with no windows, nothing to exit or enter by except one steel door that only he had access to. Undertaker spun around when he heard a click, frowning as they were cast into ever deepening shadows, security lights beginning to come on all over the place.

"Time to go, Princess."

"I'm not going anywhere and you are not forcing me." She kept swinging, black hair flowing back and forth. "And my name is Juliana. You can call me Jules or Juliana, but I HATE Julie and I am not a princess." She informed him evenly, turning her gaze on him with a look that dared him to defy her, and turned back to stare at the horizon. It was now a dark gold, nightfall would shortly follow.

"Look _Princess_," Undertaker growled, pausing and stalked towards her, his presence already intimidating. Now with night approaching, he truly was something to be reckoned with. Literally yanking her off the swing and into the air by her underarms, Juliana was now eye level with him. "You WILL obey me or else." He ordered coldly.

Acid eyes dared her to kick him because Undertaker wouldn't hesitate to restrain his job in a way she would not like. Juliana's eyes filled with fear as she stared back into his and began trembling in his arms; her feet dangling off the ground. What the hell was she going to do now? She winced when he tightened his grip and cried out in pain at her throbbing arm.

"Let me go, you monster!" She shouted, pain contorting her face while her heart pounded furiously in her chest.

Undertaker heard that noise again from earlier, not even paying Juliana any attention now as he dropped to the ground, curling his massive body around her petite frame just in time. A bullet went whizzing past them, lodging into the willow tree. He instantly had his own gun out, keeping her underneath him, all critical parts covered. Undertaker's green eyes studied the landscape, frowning when the floodlights beamed and knew the shooter was running for it.

"DAMN!"

Tears streamed down her face as Juliana heard the bullet fire and lodged in her tree. She didn't make a move, trembling from head to toe, and watched from her crouched position as Undertaker defended her. The floodlights caught a site of the shooter running for it, but that wasn't her main concern. Juliana wanted to run, to get as far away from this man as possible. Why was this happening to her family? To her? What had she done wrong to anger someone like this? She knew it was because of her family's fortune and Juliana would more than willingly hand it over in the blink of an eye if she could. Her father, being the all rich and powerful Harrison, would never do it though, even if it meant her own life.

Once Undertaker was sure they were safe, he moved onto his knees, running his hands over her body in a purely clinical matter, checking for broken bones or fractures. Knowing he wasn't a light man by any means. He already knew Juliana hadn't been shot. After determining she might be shaken and bruised, Undertaker stood up, wrapping an arm around her waist to support her and pulled her up alongside of him.

"Are you ready to go in now?" He asked softly, already guiding her towards the mansion.

"Yes." Juliana whispered out, wincing since him landing on her had been extremely painful.

She only stood five foot eight and weighed around a hundred and ten pounds. Juliana Harrison was petite, very small and, for this man to land on her, felt like a huge rock crushed her. She held onto his arm for dear life, wincing with every step she took, and allowed him to guide her back in the mansion. Sighing heavily when Kenneth immediately started going off at the mouth, Juliana finally had enough and glared at him.

"STOP IT! Just STOP with the bickering already! Can't you see I'm in PAIN here? Does that not concern you, MR. ANDERSON?" She snapped angrily and collapsed, holding her abdomen as a shot of pain zipped through her.

Undertaker caught her before she could hit the floor, shooting Kenneth a look when the man came forward. He glanced at one of the maids. "Show me her room." He ordered the woman coldly.

"What the hell do you think you're doing to my fiancée?" Kenneth demanded, following them. "You have some nerve to be manhandling her like that! Somebody send for the doctor!" He bellowed, sending the maid scurrying, after showing Undertaker to Juliana's room.

Undertaker closed the door right in Kenneth's face before carrying her over to the bed, placing a gentle hand on her abdomen. Juliana immediately cried out in pain, tears streaming down her face. She had dirt stains on her dress from when Undertaker shoved her to the ground, landing on top of her, but that was far from her mind at the moment. Her body racked with pain, but her stomach hurt the worse because he'd landed on it fully.

"Please don't…" She whispered out pleadingly, placing her hand on his, and tried pushing him away.

Undertaker stared down at her, sighing when he heard the physician was on his way, but traffic would delay him, from the maid outside the door. He pulled a blanket over her to just above her hips before reaching under and sliding up her dress, looking over her bruised stomach. Pressing gentle firm fingers against it, then her sides, Undertaker assessed the injuries. When he pressed on the tender area right below her right ribcage, Juliana cried out in pain, immediately stopping him by shoving his hands away. Not only was Undertaker violating her, but hurt her worse than the pain itself. Juliana had never felt pain like this before and wondered what was either broken or ruptured.

"Stop it…" She choked out; squeezing her eyes shut and tried to take deep, calming breaths while tightening her fists.

Shaking his head, Undertaker sat on the bed and returned to what he'd been doing. He ignored her cries and protesting hands, finally stopping after he finished. "Nothing's ruptured or else you'd be in shock and you're not. Internal bruising." He informed her in a monotonous voice, pulling the blanket up over her. "No more swings and no more benches, got it?"

"What am I supposed to do then? Stay in my room and rot?" Juliana shot back at him, not believing he was trying to take away her two favorite places in the world.

She winced and raked a hand through her hair, scowling when he shot her a deadly look and knew she had no choice. It was the story of her life. She never had a choice or say so in her life it seemed. Her father had the uncanny ability to push infuriating men into her life and Juliana was just about at her wits end.

"Fine, you pick one spot and I won't go near it until this whole ordeal is over, but you're not taking both of them away from me, Taker."

"Actually, Princess, I am. I already told you that your regulars were probably already taken notice of and I was right." Undertaker sounded slightly smug. "So I suggest you pick a spot in this…house or I'll pick one for you."

His acid green eyes clearly told her she had NO choice in this matter. Juliana just glowered back at him, coughing a little and scooted away from him, not caring if it hurt her or not. She wanted to be as far away from his man as possible.

"My name is Juliana, SIR, NOT Princess. I refuse to listen to you unless you at least respect my wishes to call me Jules or Juliana." She wasn't backing down from him when it came to what he called her. "It's bad enough Mr. Anderson calls me Julie."

His nostrils flared for a moment, his earlier assessment of her having been a tad off. She did have some sort of a backbone, though clearly on the wrong issues. Maybe there was hope for her after all, though Undertaker highly doubted it.

"Fine, JULES." Undertaker said, his voice dripping with an almost evil quality. "Now…are you going to pick an indoor place or am I?"

"I'm allowed go anywhere I choose in the mansion, as long as you're with me. I don't have just ONE specific place." Juliana replied in a softer tone, not believing she'd actually raised her voice to this man, and winced as she held her abdomen more. "I'm fine."

She held up a hand and immediately turned her head away when the door opened, followed by her father. She was either going to get a tongue lashing or Jerald would yell at Undertaker for hurting her. Either way, this wasn't going to be pleasant, especially after Juliana raised her voice to Kenneth downstairs.

"WHAT HAPPENED OUT THERE? I PAY YOU TO PROTECT HER, NOT HURT HER!" Jerald shouted, his face red, not believing his daughter had been close to death.

Undertaker instantly stood up, rising to his full height, and towered over his employer. "What happened is your daughter has specific spots she likes to go and whoever wants to KILL you both is aware of that." His voice was oddly calm. "Someone took a shot at her tonight and I made sure she didn't take it. NOW…do we have a problem?" Jerald looked at Juliana and stepped back, truly terrified of this man who he'd hired to protect his daughter.

"Daddy, I'm fine." Juliana quietly whispered out, slowly lifting her head to stare at him and felt the tears spill down her cheeks, curled up further on her bed. "Please do not yell at him. Yell at me. I was foolish for going out there." She sniffled a little and winced in pain, coughing a little more and managed to sit up to a position that didn't hurt her as much, but had her head bowed in shame. "I'm sorry, father. It will not happen again."

Jerald cleared his throat, looking like he would give her a tongue lashing, but the physician arrived. Instead, he looked at Undertaker, nodding solemnly. "Your room is right across the hall from Juliana's. Come with me."

Undertaker watched as the doctor instantly tended to Juliana, his green eyes narrowing before following Jerald, leaving the door open behind him. "Your house is too open to attack." He said flatly. "How am I supposed to protect her when you got this place set up like a damn circus?" Jerald didn't answer.

"Julie, are you alright?" Kenneth asked, stepping into her room, concern written all over his face, almost to the point of being sickening. "How badly did he hurt you?"

"He did not hurt me on purpose. If he did not push me out of the way, I would have been shot, Mr. Anderson." She managed to grit out; tears pouring down her pale cheeks as the physician checked her over, crying out in pain when he pressed a little too hard. "God this hurts…" Juliana whispered out in a gasp, breathing raggedly and coughed more as blood came out on her hand, instantly breaking down completely. "I'm bleeding!"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Undertaker appeared in the room, followed by Jerald, who looked shocked. Acid green eyes narrowed when the physician said she must've ruptured something, knowing that was a lie. He stalked over to the bed and peered down, seeing two fresh bruises, fingerprint shaped, right over one of her organs.

"You prodded too damn hard!" Undertaker growled, grabbing the physician by the shirt collar and literally tossed him away from Juliana. He blinked in surprise when Kenneth and Jerald just gaped. "CALL FOR AN AMBULANCE, YOU MORONS!" He roared, taking the bandana off his head to catch the blood spilling from her mouth.

"No please!" Juliana cried out in fear, her eyes widened in terror and shook her head, causing her to wince more. "No hospital…" She gasped, holding her side and forced herself to calm down, taking sharp breaths. "I'm fine, Taker. I don't need a hospital." She softly assured, coughing a little more and laid down on the bed, willing the pain to stop.

Undertaker shook his head, cocking his head when he heard sirens in the distance. Damn, being wealthy had its perks didn't it? "You're going."

He wasn't giving her a choice, wiping blood off of her chin, shooting both Jerald and Kenneth evil looks. Receiving one back from Juliana's worthless fiancé, Jerald looked apprehensive, not saying a word. Undertaker stood up and stepped back as EMT's came rushing in. Once they loaded Juliana into the ambulance, Undertaker joined her, not taking any more chances.

Before the ambulance arrived at the mansion, Juliana passed out from how much pain she'd been in. She'd never been in this much pain in her life and it scared her to death. Her body went limp as they loaded her on the stretcher and put her in the ambulance outside of the mansion. On the way there, they placed a breathing mask over her mouth and nose, determining she had severe abdominal injuries and stuck an IV in her arm to keep her hydrated. Within a few minutes after arriving at the hospital, Juliana was taken to the emergency room, not needing surgery, but they had to poke and prod at her that followed a long and tedious examination. This meant, her beautiful gown was cut off and replaced with a hospital gown.

After hours of poking and prodding, Juliana finally acquired her own room, still unconscious, and looked paler than ever. Like a ghost, if that was possible. Undertaker sat in a chair across the room, watching her sleep. He hadn't been all that surprised when neither her father nor fiancé had come to check on her. Though Jerald HAD called, how sweet, Undertaker thought bitterly. He folded his arms across his chest and closed his eyes, not sleeping, just waiting for Juliana to wake up.

A few hours later, Juliana's eyes slowly fluttered open, groaning softly at the amount of pain her body was in and slowly looked around the room. Her eyes were narrowed a little, trying to get her vision on track, and felt her body stiffen when she realized she wasn't at the mansion anymore. She looked down, seeing an IV in her arm, and knew she was in the hospital. Tears started running down her face because Jerald wasn't there. It didn't surprise her, but didn't hurt any less either. Juliana leaned back further against the pillows and closed her eyes, not saying a word. Undertaker's eyes shot open when he heard her groan. He slowly stood up and walked to stand at the foot of her hospital bed, her silent tears not fazing him, folding his muscular arms over his chest, staring down at her.

"You didn't need surgery and will be in pain for a few days." Undertaker said almost indifferently. "Right now, you're on an IV to keep you hydrated as well as some pain medication."

"Lovely." Juliana muttered, running a hand through her hair, and slowly opened her eyes to stare at him.

He was only here because she was his obligation, but it meant a lot to have someone at the very least. Juliana sighed heavily before leaning further back against the bed, feeling weak. The moonlight streamed through the window and set her in a glow as she winced, trying to get comfortable.

"When can I go home?" Juliana asked quietly, not looking at him anymore, her gaze focused out the window now.

"Tomorrow afternoon, providing you don't start coughing blood again." Undertaker stated and sat in the chair next to the bed, studying the monitor hooked up to her. "Calm down." He advised, noting how fast her heart raced because of the monitor. "You're like a rabbit, you know that? Calm down, Jules." He ordered again when it only picked up. "You ever saw a hummingbird?" He asked randomly, smirking slightly when she nodded. "When they get overexcited, their hearts burst."

Juliana couldn't help it. This man petrified her as she closed her eyes and sucked in a deep shaky breath, letting it out. She did this several times, even doing some in through the nose and out the mouth, hearing the machine slowly calming down and felt a strand of hair fall across her face.

"Sorry." She mumbled apologetically before turning back to stare out the window, away from him since he sat beside her.

Her eyes scanned the plain room, wishing she was back in her own and coughed, covering her mouth. Looking down, Juliana sighed with relief when no blood appeared. Undertaker snorted, knowing he had scared her and, truth be told, it amused him. Seeing her pale face flush, breathing turn erratic and being fearful of him actually turned him on a bit. Undertaker shoved the thought aside, knowing under different circumstances, she would have been his. As it was, Juliana was a job and he made a point not to screw with his job…often. Juliana's eyes suddenly widened when she heard the door open and tears instantly swelled at the sight of her best friend.

"John." She whispered, instantly sitting up in bed and started crying when he hugged her, burying her face in the crook of his neck.

John Cena was her best friend. They'd be friends for years, but her father never allowed him to come see her, especially with Kenneth in the picture now. John wasn't rich like her. His family wasn't poor either, even though John claimed they were and that didn't matter to Juliana. She reluctantly pulled away from him, staring into his baby blue eyes.

"How did you find out I was here?" She whispered, wincing in pain, but ignored it.

"Came over the news." John replied, ignoring the man who had suddenly got to his feet, stroking her back soothingly. "You're wealthy and your Dad is like…royalty or something. You honestly didn't think it wouldn't be announced?"

Undertaker growled when he heard that. If her hospitalization had been announced, she'd just been made an even easier target. He pulled John away from her, pinning him against the wall, and started searching him.

"Hey! What the hell are you? Rent-A-Cop?" John demanded angrily.

"Taker, stop it!" Juliana shouted, causing him to release John as he came back over to her, and took John's hand in her own. "He's my best friend. I've known him for years. He would never hurt me." She explained, not looking at Undertaker, and sighed when John got a questioning look in his eyes. "He's my new bodyguard." The word left a bad taste in her mouth. "Until the death threats stop and whoever is doing this is found." She watched John nod knowingly and winced again, causing him to become alarmed, holding her hand up. "Stop worrying about me, I'm fine." She quietly assured.

"What happened, Juliana?" John asked gently, wishing her bodyguard would take a hike. He looked up, blue eyes narrowing. "Hey man, you mind? Can we get some privacy?" Undertaker's answer was to plant himself back in his seat across the room near the door, propping one foot up on a small stand and folded his arms over his chest, green eyes narrowing back at this young punk. "What a creep." John muttered, turning his attention back to his best friend. "Why are you in here?"

Juliana sighed heavily, patting John's hand with her own, and started telling him everything that happened. From the newest death threats her father had received, to meeting her overbearing protector Undertaker, to Kenneth manhandling her and Undertaker stopping him, to her attack at the mansion that forced Undertaker to crush her and finally the physician accidentally puncturing one of her injured organs. When John went to lunge for Undertaker, Juliana bolted from the bed to stop him, wincing a little more and shook her head.

"Don't. If it wasn't for him, I would be dead right now or seriously wounded…worse than this. He's only doing his job. You can't hold him responsible for that, John." She spoke softly, still having her grip on the man's arm, and smiled slightly when he just narrowed his eyes back at Undertaker. "My father assigned him to me. I have no choice except to have him follow me around. I hate it, but I'll have to get over it until this matter is dealt with. Have you found any dirt on him yet?" She referred to her soon-to-be husband, trying to find something to get out of this fated marriage.

"No. Cleaner than snow, but I'm still looking." John promised, bending down to kiss her forehead. "If I asked you to dinner sometime soon to discuss this further, creepy over there would probably have to join us wouldn't he?"

Giggling softly and wincing for her troubles, Juliana nodded, suddenly having an idea form in her head as she stared into his eyes intently. "Yes he would."

But her eyes told him something completely different and Juliana secretly squeezed his hand with her own. Their secret hand gesture whenever one had to sneak out of the house to see the other. It worked for years and Juliana wasn't about to fail him now.

"I'm not even allowed out of the stupid mansion." She groaned in frustration.

Undertaker's trained eyes had caught the squeeze, the little flex of knuckles. He shook his head, wondering what these two had up their sleeves and had to give Juliana credit. She was a sneaky little minx.

"Isn't visiting hours over?" Undertaker asked pointedly, his voice gruff.

John groaned, looking as though he would give Undertaker a piece of his mind and refrained because he didn't want to upset Juliana. "I guess I gotta go…before your dog attacks me." John squeezed her hand again. "Will you be getting out tomorrow?" He asked softly.

"I hope so." She replied, smiling at that dog comment, and shook her head before pulling John into her arms, hugging him tightly. Juliana whispered something in his ear, smiling when he squeezed her back and groaned when he hit a sore spot. "Don't worry, I'm fine." She assured with a wink and leaned back against the bed.

John was like her big brother and they were also really great friends. She'd often sneak out in the middle of the night to see John and knew her maid, Lucy, would never say anything about it. Undertaker shook his head, watching as John stood up. He waited until John neared him and placed a long leg out in front of the kid.

"I suggest for a while you curb your interest in Jules." He said in a voice that wasn't really suggesting anything, but ordering. "She's a target and all you are is a distraction."

John snorted in response. "You need to just stick to your job, Rent-A-Cop." He pressed on, stumbling when that long leg rose up higher and sent him flying out the open door.

Ian shut it behind him, grunting. "Kids."

"You are not keeping me away from him." Juliana stated defiantly, her cold midnight blue eyes narrowing somewhat and actually stood up from the bed again, ripping the IV out of her arm, tossing it over her shoulder. "Now then, without my old man in the way, allow me to introduce my REAL self."

It'd all been an act. Everything Juliana pulled that night, even though Undertaker had landed on her really hard and hurt her, but she was ignoring the pain for the time being. There were far more pressing matters to focus on, like the fact someone wanted her dead and she had an idea of who it could be.

"My name is Jules. Not Juliana, not that princess shit, and nothing else. You call me Jules or you don't call me anything at all." The shyness was gone and all that was left was her eyes flaming with anger as Juliana walked over to retrieve the clothes John had left on the side of the bed, immediately sliding into a pair of jeans. "Now, if you would be SO kind, Taker."

Slipping her tank top on before disposing the hospital gown, Juliana sat on the bed, her knee bent up while her elbow rested on it. Undertaker's temper shot up. Not caring if she was hurt or not, he got up, crossed the room and grabbed her by the arms. Slamming her into the nearest wall, his acid green eyes flashed dangerously.

"Listen here, JULES, in case you didn't notice, someone is trying to kill your stupid ass." He growled venomously, trapping both of her legs so she couldn't kick him. "Now unless you want to die, you'll listen to me. Otherwise, you're wasting my damn time!"

"See, that's where you're wrong. I'm not wasting your precious time. You're wasting mine." Juliana didn't even flinch when he'd slammed her against the wall, folding her arms in front of her chest, and raised an eyebrow up at him. "You won't leave because my father is paying you mega bucks, dude." She knew it. It wasn't a questioning statement. "You should be protecting him more than me, but fuck it. I hate that cocksucker anyway, so I really don't care if he gets shot in his thick head." No remorse in her voice, Juliana shoved a semi-shocked Undertaker off of her and managed to put some distance between them. "Now then, if you want, you can keep following me around like a lost puppy dog or we can make a deal."

Undertaker shook his head. "First off, PRINCESS, I have enough money where I DON'T have to work for your dipshit father. I happen to generally like my job except for when I have to deal with snotty little bitches like you. Second, I don't cut deals. So you can enjoy the rest of your life, or what's left of it, and I'll stop WASTING your time."

"What? Did you honestly think I was that prim, shy little bitch at my daddy's house?" Juliana started laughing and shook her head, making it sound bitter before turning around to face him. "You're more dense than I thought and the name is Jules, NOT Princess." She took a deep breath to calm down, grunting a little by her injuries, but they didn't faze her that badly. "My deal is quite simple. You help me get what I want and I'll help you get what YOU want. Hope that's not too hard for you to follow, Taker." She slipped on her steel toed boots, lacing them up before sliding on her leather jacket, and headed over to the window. "Think this is too steep to jump out of?"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Let's find out." Undertaker growled, wrapping an arm around her waist before sliding his large body out onto the ledge, dragging her with him. A minute later, they were on solid ground. "Looks like it wasn't." He pushed her away. "What's the damn deal?" He demanded, more than a little curious about this sneaky broad.

Cracking her neck and groaning at the feeling, Juliana merely held up her left hand. "Do you see this?" Her engagement ring she was forced to wear, the gaudy rock Kenneth had given her, and ripped it off of her finger. "I want him gone. Out. I want him gone out of my life. Now then, I know you want to catch the guy who is following me around and I think I have a pretty good idea who it is. You help me get rid of my 'fiancé' and I'll give you full access to who the motherfucker is. Shit, I'll even tell daddy dearest to give you a bonus for your troubles."

"I want to catch the guy who's following you around? No, I'm being paid to catch him." Undertaker corrected her, not about to murder someone just because daddy's little girl was messed up in the head. He killed before, but on the job. "I think you need some therapy, Princess. I'm not your man, find someone else. Your daddy dearest can shove the bonus right up his ass. Show them both the balls you've apparently sprouted and tell them off, do something." Shaking his head, Ian wondered why the hell she wasn't on Prozac or something.

"It's Anderson." Juliana softly confessed, when she seen him start walking away, and smirked when Undertaker froze in his spot. "He's trying to kill me without my father realizing it." Her voice didn't hold the cocky tone anymore. "That was him that shot at us earlier. He never went to talk to my father. That's why I want him gone. I'm not asking you to murder him, but I'm asking you to help me tell my father. My father won't listen to me and I've been trying to tell him for months now. I found out right after the first death threat. I recognized his handwriting." She explained, not caring if he listened or not and reluctantly slipped the ring back on her finger.

Undertaker turned around, studying her intently. "I don't believe you." He said flatly. "You've done way too many personality changes and you're more than a little mentally unstable. You show me proof and THEN I'll think about it."

"Here." Juliana walked over and slid the piece of paper in his hand that she pulled out of her leather jacket. She knew Undertaker had looked over the death threats before taking this job. She wasn't that stupid and stepped back. "That's a letter, a threat he wrote to me right after he found out about you becoming my bodyguard." Juliana explained, starting to pace back and forth. "I don't have personality changes either, you asshole!" She growled, taking offense to that. "I have to act the way I do and dress the way I do for my father's liking or he'll punish me. My father is the unstable one, NOT me. Get it right."

Undertaker ignored her, studying the paper. Looked like the threats, true enough, but he knew it didn't mean jack. Anyone could find a forgery artist anywhere these days. He meant what he said; he did not trust this girl, even if she had gotten under his skin a little. "We'll see." He told her finally, not commenting on the personality changes because he didn't buy it.

This woman had just asked him to kill for her. Seemed like she wouldn't have any problems whacking her old man upside the head with a fire poker or something, if given half the chance. Not that Undertaker blamed her, but still he could see a ton of potential drama and issues arising with Juliana Harrison, not sure if he wanted to be involved.

"You know what?" Juliana snatched the piece of paper out of his hand. "I don't need your help. You're paranoid and you don't trust me, so forget it. I don't trust you either." She then walked away from him and started running across the street, her black hair flying in the wind, knowing she'd have to find another way.

Watching her walk away and shrugged, Undertaker just turned to head in the opposite direction when he seen a flash of silver out of the corner of his eye. "JULES, DOWN!" He barked, running after her. Undertaker shoved her forward and groaned, feeling some kind of throwing knife embed itself in his shoulder. "NOW I'm pissed."

Grunting, Undertaker whirled around, green eyes narrowing when he seen a blonde head disappear through an alleyway. Juliana grunted a little as she landed on the ground with a thud, having heard him bark an order at her. She went to turn around and tell him to shove it, only to stop short at what happened.

"Taker!" She whispered frantically and ran to his side, ignoring the pain in her side and seen he was trying to pull the knife out of his shoulder. "Hold still." Juliana ordered, surprised when complied. With a mental count of three, she pulled the blade from his shoulder, and stumbled back before dropping the bloody knife on the ground. "Jesus, you're bleeding like crazy." Concern filled her blue eyes. "We need to get you cleaned up."

Undertaker shook his head, furious beyond belief. "Follow me." He grunted, walking down the street a little ways from the hospital, silence falling between them.

About ten minutes later, they disappeared into a grubby bar. Undertaker knew she followed him as he led the way throughout the bar, nodding at the bartender before disappearing into a backroom. He reached up onto a shelf and pulled down a black box, setting it on the grungy table, sliding off his vest.

"Know how to sew?"

"Are you out of your mind?"

Juliana gaped in bafflement, swallowing hard. She knew he wouldn't go to the hospital and just took the black box from him. Pouring peroxide on the wound, she began sewing it shut. Wincing a little since blood spurted out of the wound, Juliana sighed when she finally finished the job.

"You're crazier than me." She muttered under her breath and shoved the box toward him.

Undertaker snorted, turning to look at the sewing job in a grimy mirror, and nodded grimly. "Not bad." He reached into the black box and pulled out a silver flask, unscrewed the cap, and swallowed half of it down. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Undertaker held it out to her. "Or don't you drink?" He challenged, arching an eyebrow.

Taking the flask from him, Juliana downed the rest of it and tossed it over her shoulder, wiping her mouth off with her leather coat sleeve. "Of course I drink. How do you think I've managed to keep up this act with daddy dearest for so long?" She shot back at him with a raised eyebrow, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Fair enough." Undertaker replied, experimentally flexing his shoulder and groaned, holding up his vest, studying the hole in it. "That son of a bitch…" He sighed, tossing it in the corner, staring down at her. "You have a night of freedom." He informed her gruffly. "Kenny boy won't be back tonight. He knows I seen him, so enjoy. I'm setting up shop back here with a fifth."

"I don't want your help anymore." Juliana spat back at him, blue eyes narrowed, and turned on her heel stalking right out of the bar.

No way would she let him help her when he didn't even trust her. Who could blame him? Juliana knew she knocked him for a loop, but damn it, she was desperate! Knowing she had to get to her and John's hideout, Juliana walked across the street and down the sidewalk, keeping her eyes peeled for anything to come out and strike her.

"Jules!" John hissed, stepping out of the shadows. At the look on her face, he smirked. "I walked out of the hospital and heard your loud mouth from your window. What happened? Where's Rent-A-Cop?" He looked around as if expecting the big man to appear any second now.

"Gone." She simply replied, walking over to the corner and hugged him around the neck, kissing his cheek. "Thanks for the clothes, bro." Juliana half-grinned, not able to hide the worry etched on her face. "Anderson attacked again, this time with a knife. He got the Rent-A-Cop right in the shoulder." She explained, knowing they couldn't be seen in the darkness. "John, what if we can't stop him?" She suddenly asked, terrified for her life, even though she tried not to show it.

John sighed, raking a hand through his hair and gently pulled her against him, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "We'll find a way, sweetheart." He promised determination in his voice. "How'd he get Rent-A-Cop? I made a phone call why you two were wherever the hell you went and he's supposed to be the best. That or Anderson's aim is really poor."

"I don't care if he's the best or not. He's…I don't even know how the hell to describe him, but he doesn't trust us. So fuck it. We can do this on our own. I don't need a stupid bodyguard anyway." Juliana stated, fear out of her voice, knowing she couldn't lose it now. Not when they were so close to catching the psychotic bastard. "I even showed him the letter Ken wrote me and he didn't believe it."

"Do you have any idea how easy it is to forge someone else's handwriting?" Undertaker asked casually, stepping out of the shadows before them, now wearing a fresh black leather vest.

Having decided to follow her, Undertaker wanted to see if she was being truthful with him. As if to prove his point, he whipped out a small notepad from his back pocket and pen, always carrying them to make notes when on the job. A second later, Undertaker had scrawled out a meaningless note in Juliana's handwriting, holding it out to her. She didn't take it, having jumped two feet in the air against John when she heard his voice, and pressed a hand over her heart while holding onto John.

"Damn it, you scared me!" She hissed, keeping her voice down, and felt John's arm encircle her waist. "We don't need your help. I don't care if you believe me or not. John and I can take care of this so you can go back to your little bar with your fifth of whatever you drink and leave us alone." Fed up with him, Juliana ignored her quaking insides.

"Jack." Undertaker replied, arrogance dripping from his smirk, his green eyes gleaming wickedly. "You really think you can handle this on your own, huh? That's amusing since you didn't even know he was stalking you. You were seconds away from becoming a shish kabob, Jules. But…" He shrugged. "You can handle it. Good luck with that." Smirking again, Undertaker vanished back into the shadows, the perfectly forged note he'd written falling to the ground.

"Damn it." Juliana cursed, watching him walk away and closed her eyes. She knew he was the best and they needed him to solve this problem before Juliana ended up dead. Looking over at John with a glare, Juliana took off after Undertaker and grabbed him by the arm, causing him to stop turning to face her. "Are you saying you'll help us or did you just want to prove a point? We don't have time for your games. You tell me right now if you're in or out. We can do it without you, but you are very useful and resourceful." She hated admitting it, but it was the truth and her eyes told him the same thing she said.

"Face it, Jules. You CAN'T do it on your own or else it would have been done already. And I'm in, only because I don't take kindly to being stabbed." Undertaker didn't look amused. Actually, he looked downright murderous. The last person who had stabbed him wound up in the morning paper as an obituary. "But there is a catch."

Juliana felt her stomach clenching violently when she seen the murderous intention in his eyes and slowly stepped back from him. "It depends on what that catch is." She managed to say, swallowing past the lump that had formed in her throat.

Trying with all her power to mask the fear that had consumed her, it was easier said than done. John appeared beside her, a hand on the small of her back, attempting to offer her some reassurance. Though, when he seen the look on Rent-A-Cop's face, he too discovered he was currently having a speech problem.

Undertaker smiled down at the pair grimly. "It's done MY way."

Juliana had actually leaned against John when she heard that, the relief flooding her body, and nodded with a thumbs-up. "Fine, deal. You're the best, according to my bro here, so that's perfectly fine with us." She slowly stood back up, the fear no longer gripping her stomach, and squared her shoulders. "Welcome to the team, Mr. Walker." She smirked at him before turning around to face John. "We need to get to the hideout and fast. He could be watching."

John nodded, leading the way. He would've taken them to his car, but that would've been stupid. They'd of wound up in plain sight. He knew Juliana didn't have a ride in town since she'd come by ambulance and he figured Undertaker had probably rode with her. He kept hold of her hand and had to keep looking back to make sure Undertaker followed them. Always looking mildly surprised when he seen the big man stepping out of the shadows behind them every time, silent as the grave.

"Finally…" John muttered, spotting their place.

Juliana didn't waste time and headed inside, leaving the front door open for Undertaker to enter since John had a firm hold on her hand. "John, do you mind loosening your damn grip?" She grunted out, ripping her hand out of his grasp, and glared, shaking it a little.

Heading into the kitchen, Juliana opened the refrigerator and smiled when she seen her lovely bottle of Tequila Rose waiting for her. She pulled it out, kicking the door shut with her foot, and carried it out to the living room. It was a two bedroom shack with a living room, bathroom, kitchen and small backyard. She and John had pitched in to pay for it under false names, so Kenneth had no idea of their whereabouts. She sat down on the couch, making herself comfortable, and took a nice long swig of her favorite liquor.

"Now THAT hits the spot."

Undertaker shook his head, having already looked over the outside as they approached; now eyeing the interior. It would suffice. He sat down at the table and started pulling out his various knives, a few guns and some other fun weapons. Laying them all out on the table, Undertaker looked as though he was studying them attentively.

"Um…what're you doing?" John asked, standing off to the side and watched.

"Testing them." Undertaker replied, picking up a knife and ran the pad of his thumb down the sharp blade.

"They look like they're fine to me."

Undertaker's eyes gleamed wickedly before hurling the knife out of nowhere. It whizzed right past John's head and embedded in the wall. "Yeah…you're right."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"John, leave Rent-A-Cop alone before he ends up slicing and dicing your ass." Juliana chided with a smirk, shaking her head and took another swig of her bottle, setting it on the table. She leaned back against the couch, popping one eye open when John plopped down beside her, and couldn't wipe the smile from her face. "Are you okay? He didn't scare you to death did he?" She tried really hard not to laugh, though it kind of freaked her out when Undertaker threw the knife.

"He was this close from giving me a buzz cut." John replied in a whisper, looking up as Undertaker calmly walked over to the wall and pulled the knife out with no problem. "I don't even want to know WHERE your Dad found him." He sighed, taking the Tequila Rose from her and swallowing down two shots straight. "Any ideas on how we're going to bust that son of a bitch?"

"I have no idea. We keep coming up empty at every turn." She sighed and bent her knees up, pressing them against her chest, and smiled apologetically when John yawned. "Go to bed, bro. It's been a long night for you. We'll talk more in the morning." Juliana took her bottle from him, glaring and clutched it to her chest. "Mine. Get your own." She took another long swig from it, putting the cap on and set it on the nearby table beside her.

John kissed the top of her head, heading towards his bedroom. "Er…night Taker."

Undertaker grunted, tossing a knife up into the air and caught it by the blade repeatedly. "Night boy." John didn't even bother getting riled up, just kept on walking. "You know you're going to wind up as bait, don't you." He said to Juliana without even looking at her.

"I've been bait from the beginning." Juliana replied, not looking back at him and opened her bottle, taking two more swigs of it before setting it down again. "You can have the bedroom in the back. I'm taking the couch." She informed him and laid down on it, her normal spot, staring up at the ceiling deep in thought.

Undertaker chuckled darkly, moving so he towered over her. He bent down, placing a hand on the back of the couch, the other beside her head. "Wrong kind of bait." He said, green eyes locked with hers. "You act like a shy, timid thing around him. You need to draw him out somewhere. Somewhere I'll be waiting."

Juliana could literally feel her heart lodge in her throat at the look his eyes gave off and swallowed hard. She closed her eyes for a second before finally sitting up on the couch, knowing he wanted to sit down. Not surprised when Undertaker did after she scooted over, Juliana gave him all the room in the world, curling up against the arm of the couch.

"What did you have in mind?" She finally asked and took the ring off, tossing it on the floor, feeling disgusting with it on.

Undertaker studied the ring thoughtfully, bending down to pick it up. He held it up in the light before crushing it between his two fingers, tossing it over his shoulder. "We both saw how you act around Kenny boy. Like you're some kind of brainless, spineless little…mouse." He grunted, studying her thoughtfully and smirked. "Which you're not. Do you have any idea where I'm going with this, Jules?"

"Here's the problem, Taker," She paused briefly, turning to look at him with pure seriousness. "He knows who I really am. He knows I'm not that timid little girl who obeys her daddy's wishes. He knows the real me. So your plan is squat as far as using me as bait in that manner." She explained and glanced back to face the wall.

Undertaker shook his head, frowning slightly. If Kenneth wanted to get his hands on the Harrison money, marrying Juliana would do that. There was no reason to kill both her and Jerald. He was well aware that the two families feuded, but it made more sense to marry then murder. Something just didn't add up.

"Why's he out to kill you both?" He asked evenly.

"If I knew that, I wouldn't have asked for your help." Juliana answered quietly, raking a hand through her hair, and felt the tears sting her eyes as she took a deep breath. "What John and I have come up with is that it's all about the money, but something doesn't fit. We think it's more of a grudge than anything else. Like someone else wants my father dead. As for killing me, he'd have to marry me first to get the fortune before doing so and it's not going to happen. I'll end up killing him myself before I marry that bastard." Her tone was hard and deadly, hating Kenneth Anderson with a passion.

Undertaker sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. "Maybe I should just plant your ass in some restaurant with the boy back there and wait for Ken to strike. Just take him out then." He thought aloud, playing with the knife again.

"Are you serious?" Juliana started laughing incredulously back at the man and shook her head. "Get real, Rent-A-Cop. Kenneth isn't THAT stupid. He knows who John is and has even threatened him, but John refuses to back down. He's seen us together previously and, before you say anything, no John is my big brother." She eyed him suspiciously, knowing he would probably think something like that. Then again, she didn't know him as she turned away once more. "There's gotta be some dirt we can use against him out there, but we haven't uncovered it yet." She leaned back against the couch, closing her eyes.

"Fact of the matter is this, Juliana; Anderson comes from a wealthy family just like you. So anything that happens to him is going to be instantly covered by the police and probably a lot of private investigators. F.B.I." Undertaker sounded annoyed. "Finding dirt on someone like him? Hardly. Now I know you're not THAT naïve. Money buys anything, including clean records." His green eyes suddenly flashed, a smirk curving his sensual lips.

"Don't you think I KNOW this already, Taker?" She growled out in exasperation, knowing they had about as much chance of pulling this off as a shot in hell, but Juliana had to do something.

She refused to walk down the aisle and marry this lunatic who wanted to end her life! So wrapped up in her own thoughts, Juliana didn't see the flash in Undertaker's green eyes or his smirk. She opened her liquor bottle and took another long swallow of it. Pressing her forehead to it, Juliana tried to think and could already feel a headache coming on.

"Tell you what, Jules; don't worry about it anymore tonight." Undertaker said, standing up slowly, cracking his knuckles one by one and looked evil all of a sudden. "Go sleep in your bed. Nobody knows about this place right?" When she nodded, he chuckled. "Good, I'm going to pay your daddy a visit in the morning. Make sure your boy has whatever he'll need for a…trip."

"What the hell are you plotting, Taker?" Juliana instantly demanded, crossing her arms in front of her chest, and raised an eyebrow up at him. "I'm not going to sleep tonight. I haven't slept in weeks so why don't YOU go back to the bedroom and sleep?" She suggested coldly, tempted to drain the whole bottle of Tequila Rose.

Arching an eyebrow at her, Undertaker snatched the bottle away and shattered it to the floor, pulling her up off her feet for the second time that night. "I noticed you haven't been sleeping, its showing. You WILL sleep tonight because you're not going to be any help to anyone when your body finally shuts down from exhaustion." Undertaker snarled when she tried to kick him and tossed her over his shoulder, striding down the hallway until he reached her bedroom, tossing her on the bed. "Don't make me do something YOU won't like."

"You son of a bitch! Don't you dare touch me like that again?!" Juliana shouted in protest, not believing he'd actually just shattered her bottle of Tequila Rose! She stood up from the bed and hastily took off her boots, hurling them at him. Being steel toed, they hurt like a bitch. One clocked him right in the face and the other on his injured shoulder. "I'm not going to tell you again, do NOT touch me, prick!" She trembled from head to toe from both anger and alarm.

The boots didn't even seem to faze him, his green eyes narrowing dangerously. Undertaker raised a hand to his face, feeling the spot the boot nailed. It hurt like hell, but he didn't show it. Instead, one second he stood at the foot of her bed and the next he was on top of her, straddling her waist. Undertaker held her arms over her head in one hand and clamped the other over her mouth.

"Listen here, PRINCESS, I already told you once. MY way or NOTHING." Undertaker felt his shoulder throbbing and that just ticked him off even more. "So the next time you don't listen to me, I'm going to do a bit more than just TOUCH you, got it?"

Juliana screamed against his hand, all muffled, and glared at him with icy blue eyes that turned to fireballs spitting back at him. She started thrashing her body back and forth while twisting her wrists in Undertaker's iron grip, trying to get free. She knew she'd crossed the line, but Juliana wasn't about to listen to him. No way would she be pushed around, especially OUTSIDE of the mansion. She kept screaming, squeezing her eyes tightly shut, and hoped John could hear her. Even though she knew he couldn't, especially with how deep he slept.

Sighing, Undertaker uncovered her mouth only to lean down and stifled her screams with his lips. He could feel her stiffen in shock and didn't stop, coaxing her lips apart to delve his tongue inside her mouth, searching and exploring her crevices. Finally, he pulled back, staring down at her swollen lips and smirked slightly.

"Good night, Juliana." Undertaker rumbled, moving off the bed and didn't give her a backwards glance as he left the room, taking her boots with him.

Juliana could only lay there on the bed, frozen solid, like an ice cube. Her eyes were widened, trying to breathe, especially with her internal injuries and whatnot. Undertaker straddling her didn't really help or all of her muffled screaming. Her lips burned, tingled, something she'd never felt before. The only men she'd ever kissed was Kenneth and John. Both were foul to her for different reasons, but John was much better than Kenneth.

This, however, was not.

Slowly moving her hand, she could do nothing except lay there like a corpse in a coffin. The shock suddenly wore off and Juliana found herself getting angry. She slowly sat up on the bed, left the room, stormed down the hallway and out the back door, slamming the door so hard the hinges rattled and walls shook. Juliana didn't care as she leaned against the ledge, her head spinning, and needed something to calm down her racing heart and the fire that had engulfed her body.

Undertaker shook his head, having been outside to take a breather. Kissing the wench had shut her up, but it'd turned him on. He just watched her, leaning against the side of the house, smirking when he seen her touch her lips. Though, his eyes narrowed when he noted the bottle in her hand.

Juliana retrieved another bottle of Tequila Rose from the crate outside, knowing John kept a stash for her, and had to smirk. Undertaker thought he was slick, but she was much slicker and opened it, taking a very long swallow. She had to admit, the man could kiss. Shaking herself mentally, Juliana wiped the kiss from her mouth with her arm and actually spit, trying to get the taste of him out of her mouth. She drank more and finally sat in a chair on the small wooden deck, staring up at the stars. She didn't lie when she said she hadn't slept in weeks, it was the truth.

How could she when someone wanted her dead?

"He better leave me alone or I'll hurt him." She whispered to the darkness, putting the cap back on her bottle and set it down beside her.

Undertaker watched Juliana and shook his head. This woman had a drinking problem at the wrong time. He sighed heavily, wondering if she was out to get herself killed or not. He heard her whisper and frowned, knowing she was scared, but still…self-discipline! Speaking of which, his began to falter when she stretched, her top riding up slightly to expose a peak of her smooth stomach.

"Now, honestly, was the kiss really that bad?" Undertaker asked idly, letting her know he was out there somewhere, hidden in the shadows.

"Leave me the hell alone right now." Her tone was final, no room for argument.

Did Juliana have a drinking problem? No. She only did this on occasion, especially after almost getting shot and stabbed in one night! This bastard had a lot of nerve actually asking her a question like that! Juliana sighed heavily, staring down at the bottle and finally tossed it aside, not caring if she just busted it or not. She then leaned back against the chair, a sneer on her lips.

"Happy now, Rent-A-Cop?"

"Not really." Undertaker replied honestly. "For someone who about died twice today, you sure as hell aren't acting like it. Instead of trying to rest yourself for what's ahead, you're out here drinking like a damn fool. Slick as you are Juliana, what the hell would you do if you passed out here and your fiancé somehow found you? What then?"

"At this point, I honestly don't care if I live or die, Rent-A-Cop." Juliana admitted coldly, meaning every word that came out of her mouth and laughed bitterly. "You think I drink all the time, right? You're sadly mistaken. I don't drink unless I absolutely have to and tonight called for it. I almost got shot and stabbed, that would drive anyone to drink, so just go back in the house and quit pretending to be my bodyguard. I don't need one." She never tore her eyes from the sky, not knowing where he was and honestly didn't care.

Undertaker walked up behind her. "I told you not to waste my time, Juliana." He said in a low, perilous tone of voice. "If you don't care whether you live or die then you should at least have the balls to inform your boy inside. Maybe he'd like to live and being around you, the target, isn't going to help him with that any, especially since you DON'T care."

"You think I don't care what happens to me?" Standing from the chair and whipping around to face him, Juliana planted her hands on her hips, scowling hatefully. "No, I said I don't care if I live or die, that doesn't mean I don't want to live. It just means that I'm ready for death if it's my turn to go. You don't get it and you never will and I'm sick and tired of explaining it to you. You don't want to help? Fine, then leave you rotten piece of shit and take your attitude with you!" She snapped, stalking into the house, shaking from anger again and collapsed on the couch, where she was to begin with.

Undertaker shook his head once more, disappearing into the night.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

John emerged the following morning, his hair sticking up in spikes. He looked down at the couch, not surprised to find Juliana still awake and frowned, looking around. Undertaker was nowhere to be found, which was weird considering he'd been adamant about protecting Juliana the previous night.

"Where's Rent-A-Cop?" He asked, dropping down in the chair.

"How the hell should I know?" Juliana snapped back at him, knowing Undertaker was probably long gone. He angered her last night and she really hoped he was gone for good. It would save her a lot of trouble from being manhandled and kissed against her will again. "I hope he went to find a different girl to manhandle and kiss because it sure as hell won't be me again." She saw John's blue eyes widen, heaving a deep sigh. "Do not ask because right now, I'm about two seconds away from going over to the Anderson mansion and burning the place to the ground."

"A different girl to manhandle and kiss huh?" Undertaker's voice mocked her. "If you would have shut the up, I wouldn't have had to kiss you." He glanced at the still in shock John and rolled his eyes behind the black shades he wore, dropping a suitcase down in front of the couch. "Clothes in there for you, Juliana. I spoke with your father, in front of Kenny boy, and informed him I was taking you somewhere safer since there was another attempt made on you. Kenny was MOST distressed when he heard that. He sends his love."

Juliana spit the orange juice out she consumed, coughing, and patted her chest as John came to her side. She finally managed to stop wheezing, looking at the familiar suitcase. Coughing more, she glanced at John, back at Undertaker, and then back at the luggage again.

"HUH?" That's the only thing that would come out of her mouth as John patted her back more. "Man, remind me to NEVER be drinking something while you talk. Who knows what the hell is going to come out of your mouth." The orange juice went down the wrong pipe and, being citrus, it also burned, making her wince.

Undertaker smirked, peering over at her over the top of his shades. "Check. John, go get dressed and packed. We leave in less than twenty minutes." He ordered evenly, not taking his eyes from her.

John nodded, looking at Juliana questioningly and hesitantly stood up. "You going to be alright?"

"NOW John."

John bolted, remembering that knife incident from last night and didn't want to relive it again.

"I'm not going anywhere with you." Juliana stated rebelliously, setting her orange juice down and picked the suitcase up off the floor. "I told you last night, I don't want your help, Rent-A Cop, and I meant it." Going anyplace with this man was out of the question because Juliana didn't trust him for a second and couldn't believe how fast John had bounded down the hall. Not that she blamed him.

"Oh really?" Undertaker arched an eyebrow, holding out a few Polaroid's. It showed some serious damage to her bedroom, threatening messages scrawled on the wall in blood red paint. "For some unknown reason the police just can't seem to find anything to pin it on anyone…" He shrugged his shoulders. "Kenny's going to try taking you out for good sometime very soon and he won't be making many mistakes. He might even bring in a professional hit man. But then again, like you said, you don't want my help."

"Christ…" Juliana gasped, slowly taking the Polaroid's from him, their fingers brushing together momentarily and started sifting through them.

One by one, shots of each message on the walls stared back at her. **Die, Princess, Die! Harrison Trash!** She couldn't take it anymore, letting them slip from her fingers as they fluttered to the floor and brought her knees up, bursting into tears. Juliana wrapped her arms around her legs and began sobbing uncontrollably, not able to stop. NOW she was scared to death. Kenneth had never vandalized her personal property like this and it scared her half to death. Juliana couldn't move or do anything except cry and sob her heart out, not caring who heard or saw anymore. Her life was on the line and Juliana couldn't understand why nobody could catch him. Undertaker studied her thoughtfully, finally sitting on the couch beside her, reaching out to awkwardly pat her back. He didn't know what else to do; this comfort thing wasn't in his repertoire.

"Juliana, you and I just have to come to an understanding or something. I'm going to help you whether you like it or not because that cocksucker REALLY pissed me off today." Undertaker growled, remembering how Kenneth had innocently asked what happened to his shoulder.

Slowly lifting her head, tears streamed down her cheeks freely as Juliana took a deep breath and closed her eyes again. "I'll do whatever you want, Taker. I'll listen and comply with whatever you want to do. Just please, help me rid of this asshole for good."

It was a soft whispered plea, desperation evident in her voice. Juliana buried her face in her knees again, trying to calm herself down. Undertaker nodded, gently wrapping an arm her shoulders and felt her lean against him, showing any type of affection feeling extremely foreign. His eyes widened when Juliana buried her face against him and lightly rubbed her back awkwardly.

"DUDE NO! Get your hands off my sister!" John groaned, walking out in a pair of baggy blue jean shorts and a white beater. "Juliana…What the hell?"

"He's not hurting me, John." Juliana pulled away from Undertaker and wiped her tears away from her eyes. "Are you all packed and ready to go?" She asked gruffly. When John went to protest, Juliana stopped him. "We're going with him. We need his help whether we like it or not. Whether I like it or not. You don't want to go with us? Fine, don't go, but my life is on the line." The Polaroid's from her room were strewn all over the floor, evidence that she simply needed Undertaker or else she would end up dead before long.

John walked around the couch, picking them up, his eyes widening at the sight of them. "Holy shit…" He looked at Juliana then at Undertaker, squaring his shoulders. "Lead the way."

Undertaker nodded. "Got a car waiting outside, let's go. I have some of your things in the trunk, Jules." He told her softly.

Nodding, Juliana bent to pick up her suitcase, sighing when John took it from her and shook her head. They all three walked out of the front door and into the waiting car. Juliana took the passenger seat while John opted for the back, wanting to lie down, and Undertaker drove. Juliana looked out the window as she leaned her elbow on the armrest, not understanding why she suddenly felt safe with Undertaker and didn't question it either. So many thoughts ran through her mind and Juliana wondered what the connection between Kenneth wanting to marry and kill her was. There had to be something there that they'd missed. Juliana couldn't sleep and just watched the scenery fly by, not even wishing her father good luck. Kenneth would end up killing him now that she was being taken away.

Undertaker was silent as he drove, not saying a word, trying to figure out the connection himself. Obviously it wasn't the money or else Anderson would have WAITED to kill them. That and he knew this didn't revolve around Jerald. This had something to do with Juliana. Anderson attempted way too hard to kill her. Figuring making it look like Jerald was the target could be a way of keeping things somewhat on a level, but now everything was falling apart at the seams. Undertaker gripped the steering wheel tighter; it all came down to the woman beside him. Then again, Undertaker still owed Kenny boy because the bastard had put a hole through his favorite vest and bragged about it.

Who was helping him? That's the only question that rolled through her mind as they rode in silence. It couldn't be Kenneth's father, Leroy Anderson, because that would be too obvious. No, this was somebody they weren't thinking of. Somehow, deep in her heart, Juliana knew this wasn't about the fortune.

Then again, maybe it was along with the family grudge. She sighed, staring out the window and leaned her forehead against the cool glass window, smiling a little when she heard John snoring in the back. The boy could sleep through a tornado. Juliana, on the other hand, hadn't slept in weeks, going into almost two months. Too scared to sleep for fear her life would be over at any given second. That thought made her shudder as she closed her eyes, pushing those morbid thoughts away.

Undertaker glanced at Juliana, seeing her eyes were closed, but he knew she wouldn't sleep and went back to concentrating on the road.

A few hours later, they had arrived at their destination. "We're here." Undertaker announced, pulling into a long driveway, a two story weathered house coming into view.

John groaned. "Mom…five more minutes…"

Undertaker parked the car, arching a brow. "Junior…" His voice took on a stern tone, like a father berating his child.

"Please mom? Just five…"

Juliana couldn't stop laughing, shaking her head at her jokester best friend, and slid out of the car. The house was a good size, she'd admit that, and noted they were out in the middle of nowhere. She walked over to the door and opened it, beginning to yank John out of the car. Smirking when John jolted up and hit his head on the roof, he wasn't exactly a small man and the car was small for his size…even more so for Undertaker.

"You should've woken up when father instructed, Junior." Juliana joked dryly, walking over retrieve her suitcase.

John groaned, sliding out of the car and rubbed his head, looking around. He had to blink several times before getting used to the sunlight, staring at the house. "It's so…so…normal." He said finally.

"What the hell were you expecting, kid?"

"I don't know…something like a bar or maybe a shed…not this." John ducked the swing aimed at his head. "It was a JOKE, Taker."

"Ohhh…" Undertaker drawled, swinging John's bag full force and nailed the younger man in the gut with it. "I don't like jokes."

Juliana didn't pay attention to them, too fixated on the house. This was really secluded and it made her uncomfortable. Then again, she knew Ken would have a hard time finding this place, especially with how many back roads and whatnot Undertaker took during the journey. She hauled her suitcase with her up the stairs, leaning against the doorway, and waited for Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum to arrive, snorting.

"Children, are we QUITE finished arguing?" She called out to them with her hands on her hips.

"Yes mother!" John retorted in a high pitched squeal, grinning goofily

Undertaker shook his head, walking up the steps to her. He reached into his jean pocket and pulled out a key, unlocking the door, stepping inside. He looked around, having not been here in several years and the place looked it. It was layered with dust, a few cobwebs formed, but nothing a little cleaning couldn't fix.

"You might not want to inhale too much." He said over his shoulder in a cautioned tone.

"Christ…" Juliana coughed as she waved the cloud of dust in front of her face away, and followed inside, surprised it looked like a natural southern home.

A little manly for her taste, but this wasn't her house so what did she care? Juliana followed Undertaker down the hallway, admiring the pictures on the wall, the few of them that were there. She growled when John took her suitcase from her and snatched it back, scowling darkly.

"I'm not a damn porcelain doll, BRO! I can carry my OWN bag!"

"Yeah, but…" John took it again, groaning when Undertaker clocked him upside the head, the bag taken from him and shoved back into Juliana's arms.

"Children, are we QUITE finished arguing?" Undertaker asked, mocking what Juliana said earlier.

"Man, don't like jokes my ass." John muttered, following them up the stairs.

"Your room, kid." Undertaker said, pushing open a door and nodding at John.

"Well damn…" John whistled, stepping in. "Nice. Dusty…but nice."

"And yours, Jules." Undertaker opened another door right across the hall, stepping back, and allowed her to enter.

"Thanks." She murmured softly, tentatively stepping inside.

Midnight blue drapery with the matching carpet and white furniture summed up the room. She slowly set her suitcase on the floor and couldn't believe how big it was. Running her fingertips over the dresser, Juliana sighed at the sight of so much dust, and knew what had to be done or her allergies would be in an uproar. She didn't say a word to Undertaker and walked out of the room past him downstairs, searching for something. When she found it, she dragged all of the cleaning supplies out and bellowed.

"JONATHAN, COME HELP ME NOW!"

"Aww hell, she used the full name. I'm in trouble." John groaned, growling at the amused look Undertaker shot him. "What IS your real name anyway?"

"Undertaker."

"Under-like…one of…an undertaker-undertaker?" John asked hesitantly, causing Undertaker to nod, a grim smile on his lips. "COMING JULIANA!" John shouted fearfully, smiling at Undertaker nervously before heading downstairs, dust flying as he darted by.

Juliana shoved a can of spray at John with a rag and smirked when he groaned more. "Hey, this house is dusty as hell and I for one am not going to be sneezing every five seconds. Now, get moving! Start with the front and work your way back. Then we'll go upstairs and do the rooms…" She trailed off and bit her bottom lip, clearing her throat loudly. "OUR rooms, I mean." When John gave her an amused grin, she shot him a deadly glare. "Can it, bro." She then began the cleaning spree.

Undertaker shook his head, having gone outside to empty the trunk of the coolers he'd brought. He put the food away, finally opening a can of beer, smirking when he seen John doing exactly what Juliana instructed. There was no way he was helping with the dusting, deciding he would take over the supervisor role.

"Damn…she has you housebroken doesn't she?"

John flipped him off for a response, surly. Shaking his head again, Undertaker headed outside to check out some things, peeling off his denim vest and tossing it aside, already beginning to roast. Juliana busied at work, spraying some Lysol before wiping away the dust. She finished the living room, seeing it sparkle an hour later, and wiped her forehead, already roasting herself. Quickly opening every window she could find in the house, Juliana let the summer breeze through, and smiled before getting back to work. She headed into the kitchen, wiping everything down, cabinets included. A scream sounded from her lips and Juliana rapidly jumped back when a huge black spider jumped out at her. Not realizing how close she was to the couch, Juliana flipped over the couch and hit her head on the coffee table, groaning.

"Jules, are you alright?" John demanded, rushing over to help her up. "Hey how many fingers do you see?" He waved three fingers in front of her face, blue eyes shining with concern as he felt the lump already forming on her head. "Jules?"

"Goddamn spider!" She hissed out, holding the back of her head, and screamed when it started crawling at her. "Kill it! KILL IT NOW! IT'S GOT A DAMN GUN, JOHN!" Absolutely petrified of the eight legged creatures, Juliana scrambled to her feet and flew down the hallway.

John heard that and lost it, falling back onto the couch laughing so hard, tears streamed down his face. "Run Jules! The spider has a gun and it's coming for you!" He shouted, banging his fists down on his knees. His blue eyes widened when he seen the spider right in front of his face, crawling on a large hand.

"What's the matter, boy? Don't like spiders?" Undertaker asked casually, his tone deceptive. "Oh…you're afraid it might be packing a gun…"

"That's not funny, you asshole! You know how terrified I am of those things!" Juliana shouted angrily, tears continuously falling and threw the can of Lysol at him along with the rag. "Fuck you, John! I hope that spider pulls out his gun and shoots your ass!" She then ran upstairs, wiping her tears away, and slammed her bedroom door shut.

Undertaker sighed, hearing that and knew his peaceful household had just been shattered. "Good going, moron." He growled flatly, looking down at the spider thoughtfully.

"Kiss my ass, you damn-" John's eyes widened to the point of popping out of his skull when Undertaker shoved the spider in his mouth, followed by a monstrous hand clamping over it, preventing escape.

"Chew." Undertaker ordered gravely. John didn't have much of a choice and crunched down, the spider wiggling in his mouth too much to take. "Now swallow." John did, fighting back vomit. "Good boy." He patted John's head almost affectionately. "Next time, don't mess with her."

The second Undertaker was upstairs, John was outback vomiting pugnaciously.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Juliana sat on the bed, going through her clothes, when she heard a knock on the door. "Go away, asshole!" She called furiously, not believing what John had said when he KNEW how terrified she was of spiders. Juliana shuddered as she folded another shirt, her back to the door, and growled when it creaked opened. "John, you have TWO seconds to get out before I toss you out the window!" She threatened perilously, not turning around.

"Well Jules, you can try, but I'm a pretty hard man to lift off the ground." Undertaker remarked, sounding amused. He leaned in her doorway, folding his arms across his bare muscular chest and watched her. "You alright? The spider is dead."

Juliana whipped around and had to catch her breath at the sight of Undertaker standing there bare from the waist up. The sun shining through the window bathed Undertaker in a warm glow against his pale skin. His smooth chest glistened slightly from a thin sheen of perspiration coating it, Juliana's body temperature rising a few degrees. Undertaker was a very handsome man, standing seven feet tall and had a muscular build that made him intimidating. What captivated Juliana most were his eyes. They were the clearest shade of green, reminding her of emerald gems and he had the most beautiful long ebony hair, which was always pulled back in either a braid or low tail.

"Sorry, I thought you were…" Juliana didn't have to say it and sighed, lowering her eyes to the floor, trembling all over from both fear of what happened and hidden desire for the man standing in her room. "He knows I hate those damn things and always makes fun of me for it."

Her voice filled with hurt and disdain before turning back around to fold her clothes again. She couldn't look at Undertaker anymore for fear her body would go up in flames due to the heat. Undertaker smirked wickedly, eyes flashing malevolently as he replayed what he did to John in his mind, pleased with himself. If he felt the increasing heat between them, Undertaker didn't show it and continued watching her fold the clothes.

"I'm fairly certain John feels really bad about it, Jules. I don't think he'll be teasing you anytime soon." He said nonchalantly, positive John wouldn't after his impromptu snack.

Arching a black eyebrow, Undertaker walked over to the dresser and opened the drawers one at a time, wiggling the handles to make sure they wouldn't fall apart on her. It'd been quite a while, five years or so, since he'd been back here. The place was a safe house, nothing more, and definitely not his style. Though, something told him it wouldn't be a bad idea to start investing some money into the place or else it would crumble before long, not wanting that to happen.

"I hope so." She muttered under her breath, snorting.

Jumping when Undertaker started opening the dresser drawers, Juliana didn't expect him to walk into her room and slowly turned around to face him. Realizing she held a pair of panties, Juliana immediately tossed them toward her suitcase, chewing her bottom lip, knowing he'd caught her. Red-handed. Hopefully Undertaker wouldn't point it out and just leave her alone, already feeling her cheeks flaming.

"Thanks for…for killing that…thing." She breathed out in a stammering voice, heart beating so fast, it was sure to fly out of her chest.

Undertaker nodded, another slow smile spreading across his sensual lips. "Not a problem, it was a pleasure."

He truly meant that. Slowly walking around her to the bed, Undertaker reached down to pick the panties up off the blanket, her aim a little off. Undertaker just held them out to her, dangling them from his fingertips out of reach. Juliana felt her entire face grow four shades of crimson as she looked away from him, trying to snatch them out of his grasp, and glared when he moved pulled them away.

"That's not funny, Taker." Juliana stated, going to reach for them again, and growled when he pulled them back again. "Give them back!" She slid off the bed and started following him around the room. "I said give them back, they're mine!"

"Well they sure as hell aren't mine." Undertaker chuckled, backing against a wall.

He held them over her head, snorting when she tried to jump and grab them, her body brushing against his. His breath caught in his throat and Undertaker instinctively wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her against him, lowering his mouth so it just hovered over hers. Juliana stared back into his eyes and felt her mouth go dry. She snaked her pink tongue out, licking them and, just before Undertaker could kiss her, Juliana reached up and snatched her panties from his grasp.

"Got'em." She whispered, heart thrashing wrathfully and could feel her entire body light on fire just being in his arms. No matter how much Juliana wanted to pull away, she couldn't.

"That's alright, I got you." Undertaker whispered back, capturing her lips with his.

He smirked when she melted against him, reaching down to take the panties from her hand, and stuffed them in his back pocket. He captured her hands when Juliana went to snatch them back and pulled her arms up to wrap around his neck, moving his arms around her, his hands sliding to her backside.

Her heart nearly leapt in her throat when he kissed her. She groaned when he snatched her panties from her, but couldn't pull away from him. A soft moan escaped her as she ran her hands from his neck down his arms, feeling the muscles twitching beneath her touch, and tried reaching for them again. She groaned when he caught her hands again, feeling her head whirling rapidly, and had to blink several times.

"Give them back to me." She ordered breathlessly, her hands now pressed against his chest, trying to steady herself.

"Why?" Undertaker murmured, kissing up and down her throat gently.

Finally, he pulled away from her, staring down at her flushed face and swollen lips. His eyes were now a forest green shade, darkened over with passion and barely confined desire. Undertaker gently ran his thumb over her lower lip, trying not to smile when all she did was just stare up at him. Juliana tasted far better than he could've imagined, her lips a sweet honeysuckle that mixed with the gloss she wore.

"Because they're mine." She replied, her long black hair flowing down her back, and felt the passion haze slowly clear.

Stumbling away from him, Juliana touched her swollen lips, not believing what just happened. The first time he'd kissed her was to shut her up, but this time, Undertaker did it just to spite her. Her midnight blue eyes narrowed back at him as she walked over, snatching back her panties that he dragged out of his back pocket, and turned around, tossing them in her suitcase, slamming it shut. Undertaker shook his head, knowing she would have an attitude and shrugged. He wasn't here to deal with her temper tantrums. He was here to make sure her pretty little ass stayed alive.

"Enjoy the rest of your afternoon." He murmured, walking out of the room and headed downstairs, smirking when he saw John lying on the couch.

"Never again." Juliana vowed softly, shaking her head, and blinked back the tears in her eyes.

Juliana shut the door and locked it, not wanting anymore spur-of-the-moment visits from him. How could she kiss him like that?! She didn't even know him! Juliana went back to putting her clothes in the dresser drawers, her mind leaving Undertaker for the time being. It suddenly turned to the man her father tried forcing her to marry. The man who wanted her dead. Kenneth. She felt her entire body tremble as she rubbed her arms with her hands, trying to rid the chills that flowed throughout her body, and stood in front of the vanity mirror attached to the dresser. Her pale complexion stared her in the face as the tears ran down her cheeks and Juliana knew she'd have to comply with whatever Undertaker wanted to do about this situation. As for him kissing her, that would never happen again.

"Looking a little green there, boy." Undertaker commented lightly with a smirk.

John managed to put up a shaky middle finger, still traumatized and swallowed hard. An hour later, John recovered sufficiently enough to be hungry, having finally managed to bury his spider snack deep in the recesses of his mind. That little episode would be saved for about ten years down the road when he needed therapy.

"What's for dinner?" He asked Undertaker, walking into the kitchen to find the big man standing at the sink.

"Food." Undertaker grunted, peeling potatoes with a vengeance like the spuds had personally wronged him.

"What kind?" John pressed.

"The kind you eat, now grab a knife."

Juliana finished unpacking her things, making sure everything was the way she liked it and clean. She'd been so used to keeping her own room cleaned that it was a habit. She then started cleaning the room, having found a bottle of cleaner underneath the bathroom sink with a rag, and started dusting everything. The warm breeze blew through the window as she walked over, staring out of it and sighed. She'd changed into a pair of black cotton shorts with a white tank top, too hot for anything else and barefoot. Juliana loved the feeling of the soft carpeting beneath her feet and enjoyed squishing her toes in it.

"Hey Jules, open up. It's time to eat." John knocked lightly on her door. "I'm sorry for what I did, I know I was a jackass. You can punch me if you want." He stared at the closed door. "Come on, I made fried potatoes, steaks, some kinda salad thingy." He coughed, glancing back at the stairwell incase Rent-A-Cop lurked. "Well…I had some help, but it's edible!"

Sighing resignedly upon hearing John's voice, Juliana turned around and stared at the door. After contemplating it for a few minutes, she finally walked over and unlocked the door, leaning against the doorway with her arms crossed in front of her chest. Juliana didn't say a word to him, hurt shining in her midnight blue eyes, and allowed him to pull her into his arms.

"You're forgiven, jackass." She murmured, smiling when he tightened his grip on her, and rubbed his back before pulling away. "Now I KNOW you don't know a damn thing about cooking, so I'm venturing to guess Rent-A-Cop did it." It wasn't a question.

John cleared his throat. "Well, I DID help!" He protested, holding up two bandaged fingers. "I peeled potatoes…" John ignored the exasperated look she shot him. "Is it my fault my area of expertise is in the prepackaged foods? Come on, admit it, I can microwave a mean pizza."

Undertaker busied setting the food out on the table, it being too small for three people. He shook his head at the blood stains on the counter. "Damn kid…" He muttered, washing it off, hardly believing the boy didn't even know how to cook something as simple as a steak.

Laughing softly, Juliana bounded down the stairs with John hot on her heels, after calling him Edward Scissorhands. "I didn't mean it!" She squealed, running down the hallway, hair flying behind her and ran over to the other side of the table. "You deserved being called that after what you pulled today, Jonathan!" She stated with a smirk, crossing her arms in front of her chest and eyed him shrewdly. "Bring it and watch what happens to the rest of those precious fingers of yours." The threat sounded almost tantalizing and sickly sweet.

John groaned, looking alarmed when Undertaker drove a knife in the middle of the table. "Encourage her why don't you?" He muttered, mildly agitated.

Undertaker arched an eyebrow, looking alarmingly innocent. "You got an overactive imagination, kid." He said calmly before fixing his own plate, shooting Juliana a curious look. His eyes raked over her tank top and shorts she'd changed into, smirking slightly.

"Okay…what was that about?" John demanded in a whisper when Undertaker had left the kitchen to make himself comfortable on the couch. "Rent-A-Cop is very creepy."

Shivering, John suddenly tasted spider, and put back the second spoonful of potatoes he nearly put on his plate. Sighing heavily, Juliana made a small plate, not really that hungry anymore. She started eating and then shoved the plate away before standing up, already feeling her stomach churning.

"I can't eat." Juliana whispered, feeling her stomach clench violently, and held her hand up when John stood. "Don't start with me. Just eat your food."

She buried her face in her hands and closed her eyes, wishing this nightmare would go away. Wishing she could erase the feeling of Undertaker's lips off of hers. There was NO way she could tell John what happened because he would end up putting his foot in his mouth and doing something stupid. John set his own half-finished plate of food aside to walk around the table and put his arms around her.

"It'll be okay, Jules." John whispered, rubbing her back soothingly. "Nothing is going to happen to you. I won't let it and you know Undertaker has your back, even if it's because he wants to kill Anderson for uh…damaging his vest. He's the best there is, hasn't ever failed. Come on; let that bit of info calm you down." He kissed the top of her head, wishing there was something he could say or do to ease her fears.

"It's easier said than done, bro." Juliana quietly whispered, but didn't push away his comfort. She needed it now more than ever, especially now that Kenneth knew she was with Undertaker somewhere. "I know there's nothing I can do about it and I know I shouldn't worry, but this is my life at stake and yours. Kenneth wouldn't hesitate to put a bullet or knife through your heart after helping me for so long, John." She pointed out, raking her hands through her hair, and stood up from the table. "Eat. I'm going outside for some air."

Standing, Juliana walked away from the table and slid open the door that lead to the backyard, closing it behind her, tears to spilling down her face. She hated crying in front of people. It made her show weakness when she did it in her mind.

Undertaker walked into the kitchen, arching an eyebrow when he seen John picking at his plate. "Where is she?" He demanded, not having seen her go upstairs.

"Outside. She needed some time alone." John replied, standing up to grab him by the arm when he headed for the back door. "Didn't you hear me? She needs to be ALONE."

"Maybe you're not aware of the fact that Anderson, and probably someone else, wants her dead." Undertaker said calmly, grabbing John's hand and twisting.

"Good point." John gasped. "Maybe you should go check on her."

As Juliana stood outside, the only thing she could think about was how complicated her life became once she turned eighteen. Truth be told, Juliana didn't care about her father's fortune or her family's for that matter. It was always the furthest from her mind. Juliana used to be like she acted around her father in reality. She used to be weak, timid and shy, but that all changed one night at a party John took her to their senior year in high school. A guy tried taking advantage of her and Juliana snapped, breaking the man's back with a lead pipe, and ran from the scene. John started showing her the ways of life and how to survive after that. The ways her father hadn't shown her, and now here she was. As tough as Juliana claimed to be, that didn't stop her from being scared, wondering if Kenneth would find her and have what he wanted in the end. Undertaker might've been the best, but Kenneth was smart and had the money to back up his resources.

They were unlimited.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Undertaker followed Juliana as she wandered the property, sighing when he seen her straying way too close to the woods that marked the end of his land. He halted, knowing she would stumble on the old graveyard that had been used way back when by whoever had lived there. The house was cheap when Undertaker purchased it, only using it once in a while, so he wasn't concerned with the graveyard.

"Be careful." He cautioned, reaching out to catch her when she tripped over a small, crumbling tombstone. "It's getting dark so it'll be hard to see."

"Thanks." Juliana muttered, yanking her arm out of his grasp, noticing that indeed the sun slowly descended on the horizon. "What are you doing out here? I told you, I don't need a bodyguard." Her voice was flat and emotionless.

Juliana looked down at the ground, trying to watch out for more tombstones. As tempted as she was to turn back, Juliana just kept walking, hating that Undertaker wasn't respecting her boundaries. The tombstones were nearly buried whole except for the corners sticking out of the soft ground. Juliana suddenly wondered why this man would buy a house right next to what looked like a decaying cemetery and suddenly felt her entire body shiver with dread. Undertaker would be by her side, even when there wasn't danger lurking in the shadows, which unnerved her.

"You kill people and bury them back here, don't you?" She asked, half-joking, though her voice held a sense of anxiety.

"Would you like me to get you a shovel and you can find out?" Undertaker retorted in a humorless tone, green eyes glittering wickedly when she backed away from him. "Careful, Jules." His hand shot out to grab her wrist again when she once again went flying over another tombstone. "You might land in a fresh one."

"God, you are morbid." She whispered harshly, snatching her wrist out of his grasp, alarm filling her midnight blue eyes. "You're sick you know that?"

It was rhetorical as Juliana turned around, once again trying to navigate her way through the cemetery, shivering from both fear and dread at the same time. This man truly scared her. She wanted to be far away from him, but knew she needed his help.

"I told you once before, don't touch me."

Undertaker rolled his eyes, looking thoroughly exasperated by now. "Obviously I'm sick, I like my job don't I?" He growled, wrenching her around so she could see the graveyard in the fading sunlight. "See the spots where the ground looks like it's sinking in? You about sent your ass into one of them, which would've meant you'd be lying in some nasty hundred year old coffin." He shook his head, releasing her.

"It's not my fault you decided to buy a damn house by an old cemetery!" She barked in frustration and threw her hands up in the air before heading back to the house. "Stop following me!" She ordered scathingly, hating being shadowed. Juliana gasped when she tripped, scrapping her knee on something sharp, and let out a terrifying scream at the sight of a boney hand sticking out of the ground. "OH MY GOD!"

Scrambling to her feet, Juliana promptly bolted back to the house, eyes as wide as saucers, completely petrified. Undertaker chortled wryly, following her. He stopped to stomp on the hand, smirking when it crumpled into dust under his boot. Damn woman was thicker than a tree. He told her the ground was sinking in, what the hell did she expect? Snorting, Undertaker knew she would probably go into anaphylactic shock or something any minute now.

"Women…" He grunted sardonically.

John caught Juliana on the back porch, spotting her running towards the house and heard her screams. "What happened?" He demanded. "What'd he do to you?" His tone filled with barely contained anger. "If he laid so much as a finger on you, so help me god, I'll kill him!"

"He's crazy!" Juliana cried out in horror, trembling from head to toe and wrapped her arms tightly around John's neck, her heart thrashing against her chest. "He has a cemetery back here! He's probably gonna cut us up in tiny pieces!" She shook violently and watched John's blue eyes fly open in shock, causing her to cry harder. "I tripped over a human skeleton hand! This guy is nuts!"

"He WHAT?" John roared, his own overactive imagination beginning to kick into hyper drive. "A cemetery?" His eyes widened more, wondering where the hell they were staying at and remembered what Undertaker told him. "He said his name was Undertaker…Undertaker, one of those…A GRAVEYARD?" John shoved her towards the living room in the house. "Oh my god…little bitty pieces…" He froze at the sight of Rent-A-Cop leaning in the doorway, looking calm, tossing a knife up and down, always catching the blade between his fingers.

"Where you going?" Undertaker asked calmly, trying to hide the amusement in his eyes from overhearing their little panic fest.

"Um…nowhere?"

"Good, I didn't want to have to cut you up into little itty bitty PIECES!"

That was all Juliana had to hear as she bolted out the front door and out of the house. She didn't care where she went, where she ended up, but had to get the out of here! This guy was insane having a cemetery in his backyard. Tears streamed down her cheeks as Juliana kept running down the street, seeing night had fallen, and couldn't believe how deserted they were.

It didn't matter to her though. Juliana said a quick prayer, hoping she could find a way out of here away from this lunatic who would probably end up murdering them! What if he worked for Kenneth all along? That thought made her shudder as she picked up the pace, running even faster.

"YOU MORON!" John shouted, following Undertaker out the door. "See what you did?"

Now he knew Rent-A-Cop had been screwing with them. The man had a way too morbid sense of humor. Undertaker ignored him, following Juliana, reaching for his gun when he spotted a shadow, who wasn't John, through the woods running alongside of her.

"JULES!" He bellowed, frowning at the dim moonlight, wishing for daytime. He fired a warning shot, hoping to scare off the person. "GET YOUR FOOL ASS BACK HERE!"

Juliana screamed when she heard a gunshot, immediately dropping on the ground in a nearby field, and felt the tears stream faster and harder. She scrambled up to her feet and jumped up again, running faster down the road. There was NO way she could go back in that house. It would either be a cold day in hell when she did or over her dead body. Looking up, Juliana saw the dim moonlight, not giving her much light, and didn't see the huge piece of debris in her running path. She tripped over it, doing a complete flip in the air before landing on her back on the hard gravel below, groaning out in pain. The wind temporarily knocked out of her and Juliana had to take a few deep breaths before slowly sitting up, wincing at her back.

"Damn it…"

"JULIANA!" John screamed, seeing her do the flip and, in a burst of speed, flew to her, crying out when he took a bullet to the leg. Apparently, whoever was in the woods had aimed for Juliana's head. "FUCK!" He howled, dropping instantly as pain exploded throughout his leg.

Undertaker growled, halting beside them, green eyes following the assailant or whoever it was; probably Kenny boy, but something told him it wasn't. He fired off another shot, not surprised he missed, but felt a grim sense of satisfaction when a yelp echoed throughout the woods, apparently startling the person. He glared down at Juliana before looking at John, bending down to pull the younger man up across his shoulders.

"Get your ass up and march back to the house." Undertaker ordered in a deathly cool voice, acid eyes daring her to defy him.

"Fuck you! You're crazy!" Juliana wailed, stumbling away from him. Her eyes shot open at the sight of blood pouring down John's leg, but Juliana was more concerned about HER wellbeing at the moment. "I'm not going back to that house so you can kill us! How do I know YOU'RE not working for him and this is all one big death trap?" The amount of fear that gripped her insides caused Juliana to lose her breath, breathing heavily from running and continued backing away from him.

"You're a damn fool, Juliana Harrison. If I wanted to kill you, I would have snapped your neck when we were out in that damn maze." Undertaker spat, meaning the cemetery. "I had plenty of chances to ring your neck and don't I wish I'd of done it. You can go ahead and stay out here with the REAL killer. I'm taking your friend back to the house to tend to the bullet that was meant for YOU!" He spun around and stalked back to the house, boots crunching the gravel with each step he took.

Maybe Juliana overreacted a little, but who wouldn't? This man was intimidating, strong, powerful and had a house practically built on a decaying cemetery! She watched as Undertaker carried John back to the house and immediately took off after them, pulling John from his shoulder, and groaned when her brother landed on top of her. She would take care of him, not this lunatic, and screamed when another bullet whizzed past them. She looked up at Undertaker with fright filled eyes and bolted into the house, knowing Undertaker would tend to John. Running up to her room, Juliana slammed the door shut and locked it before collapsing on the bed. She trembled from head to toe, the tears not stopping. If Undertaker did work for Kenneth, he had flawless acting skills.

Undertaker groaned, dropping down to hoist John over his shoulder again, and fired another shot back in the direction the shooting came from, knowing there were two people out there. He retreated backwards, instantaneously tossing John on the couch and bolted the front door. Glancing towards the stairs, Undertaker walked out to lock the backdoor, making sure windows were locked as well.

"Lock the damn windows up there, Juliana!" He barked, moving back out to help a groaning John, his face a bloody mess from hitting the gravel.

Juliana immediately stood up and rushed over, locking her bedroom window, realizing he said windows. She had to come out of this room? Taking a deep breath, Juliana slowly walked over and opened her door, padding across the hall into John's room. She locked his window and headed into the bathroom down the hallway. She locked slammed that window shut and left John's room, finally arriving at a black painted wooden door. It had to be Undertaker's room. With a shaky hand, Juliana slowly pushed the door open, seeing how dark it was and slowly stepped a foot inside. She just had to close the windows and then she could be back in the safe confines of her room. Tiptoeing over to the first one, Juliana latched it shut before going to the second, her hands shaking violently.

"I'll be back." Undertaker announced, making John hold a towel to his bleeding leg.

He headed upstairs to get his medical kit, halting when he seen his bedroom door open. Undertaker had told her to lock all the windows and should have known she'd be in here. Flicking on the light, the room had black painted walls, black carpet, a king sized bed with black bedding; everything was black. The way he liked it. Undertaker didn't say a word as he crossed the room to the dresser, retrieving the medical kit with narrowed eyes.

The final window in his master bathroom was hard as hell to push down. With all her strength, Juliana managed somehow and latched it, taking a few deep breaths since her heart currently pounded in her ears. She heard some commotion and immediately grabbed the toilet plunger, slowly stepping out of the bathroom, and ready to attack, freezing at the sight of Undertaker. Immediately lowering it at her side, Juliana didn't let it go as she carefully made her way to the door, tensing when he said something behind her. She threw it down, flying back to her room, locking the door behind her and backed away from it. Landing on her bed, Juliana scooted back on it, completely terrified by now and jumped when she heard John's blood curdling screams coming from downstairs.

"FUCK THIS HURTS!" John screamed, stuffing a pillow over his face. "AHHHHHHHHH!"

"Quit your bitching. It'll hurt a lot worse if I don't get the bullet out." Undertaker snapped, John's leg propped up on his knee. He used a pair of freshly sterilized tweezers to pluck out the bullet. "You moron, stop moving! I had it!" He growled, purposely hitting flesh.

"JUST SHOOT ME!" John shrieked out in pain. "NO! That-AHHHHH!"

"Christ, all that fuss over one little bullet." Undertaker shook his head, holding up the tweezers for John to see, which were coated in blood.

Juliana stayed in her room, refusing to come out and covered her ears every time she heard John's screams, tears gushing from her eyes. She knew Undertaker was either cutting him up in little pieces, which made her sick at the thought, or helping him out with his bullet wound. Juliana made her mind up. She couldn't stay here. She would talk to John about running away after Undertaker fell asleep that night. Juliana couldn't trust Undertaker, especially after that graveyard incident. She started crying harder, burying her face in the soft pillow and somberly wondered if turning herself over to Kenneth would be easier. Wearing a midnight blue night gown that fell just below her knees, Juliana currently had them drawn up to press against her chest, curled up against the wall in the far corner of the bed.

Undertaker sighed, knocking John out because he screamed too much when he went to stitch up the small wound after cleaning it. Hearing a man shriek like a six year old girl made him sick to his stomach. Finally, Undertaker hoisted John's unconscious form into his arms and carted his dead weight ass upstairs. He kicked open John's bedroom door and deposited the man on his bed, staring down at him for a minute. Juliana had almost gotten her friend killed because she couldn't reign in her overactive imagination. Scowling, he crossed the hallway to her bedroom, rolling his eyes when he tried opening the door, only to find it locked.

"Open up." Undertaker ordered, already picking the lock.

"No." Juliana shook her head, repudiating to do it.

She knew she'd been foolish earlier, but honestly couldn't help it. Undertaker had scared the living daylights out of her and she didn't want to see him right now. The small clanking and scratching indicated Undertaker was messing with the door, picking the lock. Juliana instinctively pulled the comforter up, covering herself with it, and began physically shaking so hard, the bed moved. Juliana just wanted to be away from this place and, more importantly, away from Undertaker.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Undertaker stepped into the room, slipping the little lock pick back in his pocket. He glared at her, hands on his hips, looking positively furious. "You need to pull your head out of your ass, Juliana. If I wanted you dead, you'd be DEAD!" He roared angrily, knowing John wouldn't hear any of this. "You're alive so do the damn math."

Jumping when he shouted at her, Juliana trembled more as she scooted further back, even though she had nowhere to go. She refused to look up at him, her head buried in her knees, and held herself tightly. How the hell could she trust this man when he constantly scared her to death? She wanted to be with John right now, in his comfort. He was her big brother, blood or not, and Juliana hoped he wasn't angry at her. Juliana had made a mistake by running, but Undertaker didn't have to berate her like a small child, already feeling guilty for what happened.

"John is out cold." Undertaker added, as if reading her mind. "He's also going to be fine, no thanks to you. We need to get something straight right now. If you EVER pull what you did tonight, I WILL snap your neck and bury your ass out back six feet under, you got me? There are TWO people out there gunning for your damn head."

She didn't move.

The comforter wrapped around her like a cocoon, so it hid her lower half well. Her black hair pooled around her like a curtain, hiding her tears of pain and sorrow from him. Juliana refused to speak a word to this monster they were forced to stay with. Not one single word. When he went to bed that night, she would wake John up and drag him back home with her. Undertaker sighed heavily, dropping down onto the bed and pulled her struggling form onto his lap, wrapping his arms around her and pinned her arms at her sides so she couldn't lash out at him.

"Don't run from me, Juliana. You won't last an hour out there, not with two people gunning for you. And John wouldn't be able to walk very long. You don't know where you are, you're miles from anybody…you need me." His tone had gotten softer and softer.

Juliana trembled so hard her teeth chattered as the tears kept running down her cheeks. Not only did this man scare her physically, but now mentally! He read her mind, which just frightened her further. Juliana knew if she made a move, he would probably snap her neck like he threatened. Her chest heaved, breathing exceedingly ragged from crying and sobbing so much. His tone growing softer made her trembling slowly cease. Not fully though, Juliana couldn't help it. Undertaker terrified her to death and Juliana knew she'd have gray hairs by the time this was all said and done. Undertaker began rocking her back and forth, knowing he needed to calm her down before she ended up having a nervous breakdown on him.

"Calm down, Jules. I'm not going to hurt you." Undertaker murmured, his deep voice soothing. "I took a knife for you, didn't I? You think I'd honestly do that for someone I planned to hurt? Calm down." He gently stroked her back, trying to soothe her fears away.

He was right and, deep down in her heart; Juliana knew Undertaker would never hurt her. She didn't know why, just a sixth sense she had. Gradually, Juliana calmed down, her trembling ceased, but the tears didn't. She didn't care and rested her head against his chest, wrapping her arms around his neck, burying her face in his crook. That graveyard bit had nearly scared her to death and Juliana had to take a few deep shaky breaths so the trembling didn't start up again. Undertaker was more than a little surprised when she wrapped her arms around his neck, disconcerted when he felt her hot tears beating down on him.

"Don't cry, darlin'…" He murmured, his southern accent beginning to seep through his tone. "Come on now…I didn't mean to upset you."

Undertaker had a hard time believing this was him talking and shrugged it off, knowing she wouldn't be any use to him if she had a breakdown. Juliana slowly pulled back from him, her hands resting on his chest and felt his thumb brush her tears away, calming down finally. His deep voice had done the trick as Juliana raked a hand through her hair, starting to wipe the wet spots from his neck.

"Sorry." Juliana muttered, sighing heavily, and sniffled as she breathed in through her nose and out the mouth. "I didn't mean to…to run." She finally spoke, her voice quiet. "I got…scared and…I'm sorry." She whispered those last two words before burying her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking as she started crying again.

Undertaker wrapped his arms around her again, rubbing his hands up and down her sides. "I didn't help you any with that." He admitted softly. "I shouldn't have tried to scare you after what you seen down in the graveyard."

Admitting only to himself that it had been funny at the time, downright hilarious actually, Undertaker now felt like a bit like a jerk for purposely frightening her. After calming down again, Juliana slowly looked up into his green eyes; hers still filled with unshed tears, and lowered her gaze to her lap. She'd been a fool to actually run, even though Undertaker had scared her. Her life was in danger and she'd almost gotten John killed.

"Is he okay?" She questioned softly in a whisper, sniffling a little more, and leaned against him.

The strength and warmth he possessed was irresistible and Juliana closed her eyes again, tears still falling. Undertaker nodded, reaching out without even thinking to catch her tears on his forefinger. He licked his finger clean, savoring the taste of her salty tears and stared down into her blue eyes.

"He'll live. I had to…medicate him because of the pain." It was a half-lie. "But he'll be fine. He had some superficial wounds on his face."

"Okay." Juliana noticed he licked his finger after wiping her tears away, but it didn't bother her. Surprisingly enough. She sighed heavily, swallowing hard, and began trembling again at the thought of that graveyard outback. "I'm never going out into the backyard again." She whispered, more to herself than him.

He heard her confession and inwardly rolled his eyes. What was so damn scary about a little graveyard? He actually found it quite soothing, but then again, he'd already been informed countless times he was a morbid person.

"Are you going to be alright?" He asked gently, knowing she still hadn't slept and wished she would.

Actually, now that he thought about it, Undertaker suddenly got an idea.

As if reading his mind this time, Juliana sighed as she slowly lifted her head to stare at the wall. "It's not that I don't like graveyards. It was…" She paused, trying to find the right words to say and gave up. "Forget it, no I'm not okay. I won't be okay until this is all solved."

Sleep wasn't on the menu tonight. Juliana would end up laying down, staring up at the ceiling for countless hours until the sun rose, and would be downstairs sitting on the couch or doing something to occupy her mind. Undertaker moved so he sat against the wall, pulling her to sit between his outstretched legs with her back to his chest. He gently moved his hands up to her shoulder, thumbs on her neck and began massaging the tension out of her body, applying gentle force to her pressure points.

"You need to sleep, Jules." He rumbled deeply, the sound reverberating from his chest.

"I can't." Juliana whispered, her hair draped over her shoulder, and pooling down, the ends brushing against the comforter below.

Sighing, Juliana didn't have a massage like this since…ever. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had one. She couldn't remember the last time she'd slept. Leaning further against him, Juliana loved the feeling of his strong muscular hands on her body. Juliana felt a shiver gust down her spine and managed to suppress it, not wanting Undertaker thinking she was afraid because she wasn't.

"I know you can't." He murmured, keeping up with that pressure.

Undertaker watched her head start swaying and smiled to himself. Whether Juliana liked it or not, she would be sleeping tonight. He didn't stop until she lulled her head back against him and only then did he wrap his arms down along her waist, resting his hands on her stomach. With his head on top of hers, Undertaker yawned loudly, exhausted from the day's events.

"Good night, Jules." He murmured in her ear before letting sleep overtake him.

**~!~**

_It was dark. Cold. Some place she did not want to be as she tried adjusting her eyes to the darkness. She stopped, shivering from dread, hearing his voice, feeling his hot breath against her skin. She knew it was him. She knew he wanted her dead and gone. Why she didn't know and could already feel the tears streaming down her face. Looking down as a white light suddenly shined on her through the darkness, Juliana could see herself encased in a white wedding dress, a cathedral lace veil on top of her head. Before she knew it, a priest, her father, and even Undertaker appeared, watching as Kenneth held her close to his side, an alter appearing seemingly out of thin air. _

'_No, please someone stop this!' Her mind screamed, locking eyes with Undertaker and wondered why he wasn't taking her to safety. 'Taker!'_

_This was the man who shot him and put a hole in his favorite vest. Didn't he care anymore? Juliana wanted to call out to him, but it was almost as if a force bigger than her prevented that. The thing that frightened her most was the hollowness in his eyes. They were completely blank and empty, devoid of emotion and feeling, no life._

'_Taker, please…' Her blue eyes pleaded silently, looking around frantically and tried spotting John, knowing he wouldn't let this happen. _

_Her vocal cords had stopped working along with her body function. Just as the priest pronounced them husband and wife, Juliana finally found her voice and screamed out just as Kenneth's lips descended on hers, struggling against him._

"_NO!"_

**~!~**

"NO!" Juliana let out a chilling scream as she bolted upright in the bed, sweat caking her body, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Undertaker hadn't slept; he listened to the noises outside of the house. They were just normal night noises like crickets chirping, but one could never be too sure. He felt Juliana start trembling in his arms, heard her heavy breathing and knew she had a nightmare. Undertaker was on the verge of waking her when she screamed and shot up, his arms instantly tightening around her frame.

"Calm down Jules, you're safe darlin'." He whispered soothingly in her ear.

Her breathing erratic, Juliana looked around hastily, taking in her surroundings. When she knew she was safe, Juliana started crying hysterically at the relief that it was just a dream. Or rather a nightmare. It felt so real, too real, and tremors tore through her body like a tornado, ripping her apart mentally and emotionally.

"That's why I don't sleep!" She cried out, shaking from head to toe, and drew her knees up to press against her chest. "I have nightmares every time I do!"

Undertaker pulled her against him, rubbing her back pacifyingly. "I know you don't want to sleep, Juliana, and I understand why, but you had to. You slept for two hours, which is better than nothing." He explained in a calm voice, hoping she understood.

She cried harder, the dream replaying in her mind and pushed away from him, almost falling off the bed. Undertaker caught her wrists, yanking her back against him. "You were there…You didn't stop him or anything!" She sobbed, fearing for her life. "You just stood there…" She squeezed her eyes tightly shut, the tears only flowing harder, faster, and actually gripped the front of his vest with her tiny fists.

"It was a dream, Juliana. Just a dream." Undertaker soothed, trying to calm her down. "You're just scared because of what happened tonight. You know I'd never let him do anything to hurt you." He pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her head. "Come on, quit crying. You're safe." He assured her, hating to see her cry.

"You promise?" She asked, finally lifting her head as their eyes met, whimpering a little.

Juliana had to trust him. She had to put her life in his hands, but wanted his promise first. The dream had scared the hell out of her, worse than the graveyard did because Undertaker could turn on her at any given moment if he chose. She was vulnerable, terrified out of her mind and fragile, even though she'd never admit it.

"I haven't let anything happen to you yet now, have I?" Undertaker asked gently, smiling slightly when she slowly shook her head. "You have my word, Jules. As long as I'm breathing, I'm not going to let anybody hurt you. Alright?"

Nodding, Juliana immediately settled down when she heard that and wrapped her arm around his waist, snuggling against him and sighed raggedly. "I trust you, Taker."

Shutting her eyes, her entire body relaxed against Undertaker, hoping he would protect her with his life. Juliana had to put her whole faith and trust into him, just like she did with John, in order for them to survive this. It would be hard, but if Juliana wanted to stay alive, she would do it.

"Thank you." She whispered, tears finally ceasing and wished Undertaker was like this more often because right now, in this moment, she felt safe and in good hands. Even if he did scare and intimidate her ninety percent of the time.

Undertaker moved so they were laying down on the bed, keeping her pulled up against him, resting an arm over her waist, the other underneath her head as a sort of pillow. He studied her tear stained face thoughtfully in the moonlight. Knowing there were only a few short hours before the sun rose, Undertaker sighed softly. He leaned forward and gently kissed her cheeks.

Juliana didn't mind lying in bed with him, knowing he did it to protect her. She sighed when he kissed her, a flood of warmth spreading through her body and snuggled further against him. She closed her eyes, his heat and power soothing away any fears she had, driving away the memories of her nightmare. The man had scared her earlier, but now he showed a different side that both unnerved and mollified her at the same time. Juliana knew Undertaker would be watching her like a hawk now, especially after being attacked by those two shooters.

She just hoped he didn't back out of this deal.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Undertaker watched Juliana fight sleep, knowing those two hours would take a toll on her. Especially after sleeping for two hours and then waking up like she did, her body would be screaming for sleep. He lightly traced his hand up and down her sides, relaxing her more and still felt the need to soothe her for some baffling reason.

"What're you thinking, Jules?" Undertaker asked softly, never stopping his administrations.

"I'm thinking about how all of this is tied together." She answered honestly, sighing as she felt his fingers run up and down her side, never moving or flinching. Juliana didn't even tense, that's how soothing his touch was. "I mean, I can understand why Kenneth would want to marry me, but why would he want to kill me and my father? He'd already have the fortune if he married me."

She sounded both confused and frustrated as she closed her eyes again, fighting the sleep her body craved and opened them again, staring at the wall once more deep in thought. What was the motive? The connection? There had to be something they missed. Undertaker had been puzzling over that himself since earlier, even more so when he had spotted the two shooters in the woods.

"Is there anyone from your past you might of pissed off?" He asked, arching an eyebrow down at her. "Because obviously this isn't about money."

"No, that's just it. There's nobody in my past that would want to hurt me. I hardly knew anyone. That's how sheltered my life has been, especially now with Kenneth after me." She sat up a little on the bed, resting her elbow on her hand, entangling her fingers in her hair. "There's a motive there, but I can't figure out what it is. John and I think it has something to do with the family vendetta the Anderson's have against the Harrison's, but killing my father wouldn't benefit them any. The wedding was supposed to merge the two powerful families together and make one giant dynasty. Why Kenneth would want to kill me and my father is still the question unanswered." She felt exhausted just talking about it, but knew sleep would evade her, especially after that horrible nightmare.

"Family vendetta…But why target you? You are the main focus of Anderson and whoever else is after you." Undertaker didn't bother telling her Jerald was most likely dead at his desk by now, guessing she already knew. "And why end a vendetta by killing you when he could have just married you and ended it that way?" Green eyes narrowing, Undertaker just repeated everything already said aloud, voicing his own thoughts and listened, trying to find the piece of the puzzle somehow overlooked.

"There's obviously something we missed." Juliana stated the obvious and sat up on the bed, bending her knee up to rest her cheek on it. She leaned back against Undertaker when he pulled her into his arms again, wrapping his massive arms around her waist. He did it to protect her, yes, but there something else was there too. Juliana couldn't think about that right now, remaining focused on the current situation they were both in.

"Kenneth has unlimited resources. Maybe I should just turn myself in and accept my fate." She quietly whispered, defeat entering her voice mixed with exhaustion. Sheer, physical and mental exhaustion.

The past four months had really taken a toll on her.

Undertaker growled warningly, turning her and reclining so she sprawled on his chest, his piercing green eyes boring into hers. "I don't ever want to hear you say that again." He said resolutely, holding her arms in his hands gently but firmly. This time he watched how much pressure he used. "Your fate is nothing except a bullet in your head, is that what you want? No, it's not. Because if it was, you wouldn't have come back to the house and locked yourself in this room."

"I'm sorry, but I'm just so frustrated right now. I'm losing hope. It's been four months and nothing. Not one damn clue except those stupid letters that I know Kenneth wrote."

Pressing her forehead to his chin, Juliana knew he didn't like hearing what she just said. Honestly, Juliana wanted to live. She wanted to run away from her family and live on her own. To finally have peace and tranquility in her life. She wasn't thinking about a family, just getting her own place and living by herself without any obligations. Undertaker sighed, wrapping his arms around her and gently rubbed her lower back, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

"We'll get him…we'll get them both." He promised, having every intention of killing Anderson. Now Undertaker was out for the second shooter, pissed for not realizing there were two people out there after Juliana until almost too late.

"Not your fault, Taker." She whispered softly, reading his mind again, knowing he felt personally responsible for what happened earlier on.

She closed her eyes and finally moved to rest her head against his chest, not wanting to go anywhere. Perfectly content lying on top of him, Juliana heard his steady heart beat and smiled, snuggling further into him, slowly beginning to breathe steadily. She wouldn't sleep, but felt as though their bodies were melting together as one. Undertaker groaned softly when he felt her lay her head on his chest, feeling her body shift ever so slightly. He hadn't forgotten their earlier kiss.

In fact, it had been on the forefront of his mind for most of the night up until the little incident down the road. Now however, Undertaker went back to thinking how soft and pliant her lips had been and felt. He debated whether or not he wanted to risk scaring her by taking another taste. Juliana thought about the same thing and could still feel his lips lingering on hers. She didn't know what to think about it except the fact it felt good. Opening her eyes, thoughts of Undertaker still flowed through her mind as Juliana stared over at the wall. The same spot where he'd stolen her breath away with that kiss earlier on.

No, she couldn't think about it right now. She couldn't get involved with someone like him. It was dangerous to not only her life, but her heart. Undertaker caught her staring at the wall, knowing what currently flowed through her mind. The same thing replaying in his own, that hypnotic kiss. He had only been playing with her, not planning on kissing her like he did. Damn if he couldn't help himself and Undertaker sure as hell wasn't sorry for it.

"Jules…" He rumbled, causing her head to pop off his chest and leaned forward, capturing her lips in a light kiss.

Shock flooded her body at the first touch of his lips against hers, but it quickly faded as she lit on fire. Juliana moaned softly and wrapped her arms around his neck, scooting further up his strong body, wanting to be closer to him. Alarms began ringing in her mind and they were too loud to ignore, forcing Juliana to pull away from him with great reluctance. She looked down at him, seeing that same smoldered look in his green eyes just like earlier and did a full body shiver. That same look had haunted her mind since their first brief encounter…Juliana would only admit to herself she loved seeing it.

"Taker…" She whispered out breathlessly, that light kiss taking her breath away. Even though it was nothing compared to the last one.

"Juliana…" He murmured in reply, staring into her eyes, his piercing green ones searching out her very soul it seemed.

Gently, Undertaker cupped the back of her head and pulled her towards him again, kissing her once more. This time with more fire and hunger for her. He rolled to where Juliana was on her back, never breaking the kiss. Lowering on his side, Undertaker leaned over her, bracing himself on one hand so he wouldn't overly startle her.

Once again, Juliana slowly broke the kiss, her breathing erratic and laid back on the pillow, black hair splayed all over it. The man was gorgeous and his eyes entranced her in a way that she didn't understand. Her chest heaved from heavy breathing and Juliana found it hard to regain control of her racing heart.

"We can't…"

She gasped when Undertaker took her in his arms and kissed her again, wrapping her arms around his neck, and pressed him closer to her. What was she doing? Did she want this? What about him protecting her? What would happen after this was all said and done? So many questions ran through her mind, but as soon as Juliana felt his tongue slip in her mouth, all rationality flew out the window.

Undertaker growled hungrily, his tongue exploring her mouth, tasting her and knew he had to have more. His hands moved down her back to her rear, pulling her against him. He finally trailed his mouth down her throat, nipping, licking and sucking her tender flesh. Wanting nothing more than to spend the rest of the night right here exploring her beautiful body, Undertaker continued his onslaught and could feel the tightening of his jeans.

Soft moans escaped her lips as Juliana lulled her head back, giving him further access, never experiencing what she currently felt at the moment. Undertaker caused something to stir inside of her that felt like a rushed forest fire and pulled him closer. Juliana didn't even know the man for two days, already she made out with him and actually contemplated sex. She slowly pulled back, staring into his eyes and tried to catch her breath, the passion haze slowly disintegrating.

"I can't…" She said it again, this time a little more urgently and gasped out when his hand began caressing her smooth flesh below through her panties.

The sensations were too prodigious to ignore as Juliana completely melted against him. She just hoped Undertaker didn't take it all the way, especially with her mind too foggy and clouded for proper judgment. Undertaker rubbed his thumb against her clit in slow teasing circles, sliding a finger up and down her wet slit through the thin material.

"Why can't you?" Undertaker murmured against her lips, flicking his tongue out to tease her, smirking when she automatically parted her lips. He didn't hesitate at the invitation, the thought never crossing his mind that she might still be a virgin. "You feel so good, darlin'…" He rumbled, licking his lips before kissing her again, now pushing her panties aside and slowly began sliding one long finger inside of her.

Juliana cried out softly against his mouth, feeling her walls instantly wrapping around his digit in a vise grip, her breathing turning ragged. Her tongue dueled with his, soft small hands running up and down his muscular chest since he had removed his leather vest. She knew this was wrong, that she shouldn't do this with Undertaker, but it felt too good to stop.

"Taker, please…" She moaned out in a plea, face contorted in both pain and pleasure from how tight her walls were contracting around his finger.

Plus the burning sensation that flooded her body. Juliana would never tell him she was a virgin as she laid there, his lips ripping from hers, and gripped his wrist when he went to add a second finger. Her breathing went from ragged to sporadic in a matter of seconds. Undertaker wasn't a fool. He'd been around the block several times and instantly pulled away from her, staring down into her near blackened eyes. He wasn't confused, angry or disappointed. Actually, Undertaker rather admired her for still being a virgin. The look in her eyes is what stopped him though as he leaned down, brushing his lips tenderly against hers.

"You are a special one aren't you?" He murmured, caressing the back of her face tenderly with one hand while licking her juices off his fingers.

Juliana blinked, her mind slowly clearing, and raised an eyebrow up at him. "W-What?" She stammered, feeling her heart pounding in her ears and leaned into his touch as tears filled her eyes, when he just gave her a knowing look. "Yeah…"

She didn't know what else to say and slowly sat up on the bed, raking a hand through her hair, heaving a sigh. Damn it, Juliana had been close to sleeping with this man she barely knew! Undertaker moved to sit beside her, stretching his legs out alongside hers, wrapping his arms around her waist and rested his chin lightly on her shoulder.

"Upset Jules?" Undertaker asked softly, nuzzling her neck.

"I don't know." She answered justly, not able to stop herself from leaning against him, and looked up to stare into his eyes. There was palpable sexual tension between them, but Juliana knew she had to put a stop to this before it went any further. "Taker, as much as I've enjoyed this, we can't do this again. I'm not stupid. I may be…special, but I know that I'm your assignment and nothing more. I don't have a problem with that." She patted his leg in reassurance. "Please don't be upset with me. I just…"

What the hell else could she possibly say at this point? Nothing that's what! Her body was on fire, her mind still somewhat clouded in that annoying passion haze, and she didn't understand what happened around her anymore.

"You stopped being my assignment a long time ago, Juliana." Undertaker said calmly, arching an eyebrow at her. "As for being upset, why would I be?" He took her hand, mildly annoyed at her patting his leg, almost like he was a child who needed calmed down. Standing from the bed, Undertaker jerked her with him, his green eyes searching hers out intensely. "Do you want me?" He demanded in a rough voice laced with barely contained desire. He bent down to kiss her, letting her know she was much more than an assignment at this point. "Do you?"

Her mind screamed no while her heart bellowed yes. Juliana was so confused right now and it didn't help that he made her mind spin at the moment. Her eyes held such sorrow and want as she slowly pulled away, her back now facing him, and wrapped her arms around herself while sucking in a shaky breath.

"No, I don't." She finally said, blatantly lying, but refused to have her heart broken.

If Juliana stopped this now, she could just move on and think of him as her protector until Kenneth was stopped. Then he would be gone again. He would be gone and she wouldn't have anything except a few lousy memories to live off of. In her mind, if Juliana couldn't have the whole pie, only a slice, then she didn't want any of it.

Undertaker stared down at her, both of them knowing she just lied through her teeth. She wanted him just as much as he wanted her. He wasn't about to force himself on Juliana though. Nodding, his lips curled into a slight smile before bending down to kiss her again. This time not stopping until the woman gasped for breath, both pushing him away and pulling him against her at the same time. Undertaker released her and stepped back, his eyes raking over her trembling body perceptively.

It was from desire, not fear.

"When you're ready to admit you want me as much as I do you, let me know." Undertaker said before walking out, closing the door behind him.

As soon as the door shut, Juliana collapsed on the carpeted floor, her knees completely giving out on her and pressed a hand to her heart. Her lips were swollen and her entire body flushed, lit ablaze. Tears swelled in her eyes as she took a few deep breaths to calm down, not believing the intensity of that last kiss.

It literally sucked the breath right out of her body and made her complete putty. Sighing, Juliana just rose her knee up and pressed it to her forehead, shaking her head. She would never admit to Undertaker she wanted him. Juliana would rather not have him than experience the heartache sure to follow if she did sleep with him and give him her innocence.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

John groaned, feeling his pounding head the following morning, along with an ache in his throbbing leg. He slowly sat up, catching sight of himself in the mirror. He looked like hell warmed over. His face was clean, but scarred up badly and a nice sized goose egg knot on his forehead.

"I don't even want to know how I got that." He muttered, gingerly standing.

Groaning at the pain in his leg, John hopped on one foot across the hall to knock on Juliana's door, not knowing if she was downstairs yet or not.

Juliana instantly shot her head up, staring at the door and immediately bolted from her bed, ripping the door open, coming face to face with John. She wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him tightly. Telling him how sorry she was for running away because he got shot because of her. It was all a rush of words. Juliana finally pulled back, cringing at how much pain he was in, and caressed his face with her hand.

"Come on, you can't be on that." Juliana instructed, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, and helped him downstairs.

She'd changed into a pair of jeans with a purple tank top, knowing they were somewhere that had hot weather constantly. John groaned when she nudged him down onto the couch downstairs, propping his leg up on the coffee table. One thing Juliana did was always take care of him and vice versa, so John wasn't about to deny the pampering.

"You look like hell." John commented finally when she took a seat next to him, knowing she hadn't slept any. "Jules, why don't you lay down here and sleep? I'll wake you if you start having nightmares." He promised, genuinely concerned for his best friend.

"I did try to sleep last night, but woke up with another nightmare." She informed him, patting his good leg comfortingly and sighed, knowing she did look like hell. Paler than normal, dark circles under her eyes and they were mostly bloodshot by this point from crying so much. "I'm fine." She wasn't about to tell him that Undertaker came to her room or what transpired, knowing he'd blow a gasket. Juliana examined the back of his head, frowning. "Damn, I didn't think you fell that hard…"

"You sure? Did Rent-A-Cop bug you after I fell asleep?" John demanded, studying her intently, aware that something was going on. Something she wasn't telling him.

"No, he left me alone." Juliana lied, not looking at him, and had her eyes planted firmly on the floor. She couldn't look at him because he would be able to tell she lied, quickly standing. "Are you hungry? Do you need anything? Aspirin maybe?" The guilt of what had happened last night ate away at her insides.

"No and no." John took her hand and pulled her back down. "Stop looking like that, this isn't your fault. Besides, I'd take a bullet for you any day, Jules." He grinned, ignoring the pain in his head and leg. "You sure there's nothing you want to tell me? Now would be a good time since the freak show is mysteriously absent."

"Don't call him that." She suddenly got defensive, crossing her arms in front of her chest, and flushed when John's blue eyes widened in shock. "He's not a freak show. That graveyard just freaked me out because I saw that hand. He warned me it was caving in, John. I just flipped out because that's what I do. I'm an idiot, okay?" She buried her head in her hands and leaned forward, closing her eyes. "If it wasn't for him, we would both be dead right now and you know it." It was fact.

"Well I know that, the guy saved your life a few times as well as my own." John said softly, removing her hands from her face. "What's wrong, Juliana? Is there something going on between you two I should know about?"

John didn't think there was. Undertaker had to be more professional then that and he thought Juliana was too smart for some sort of crush. However, it was more than obvious something was up. Maybe he was wrong and completely blind to the truth. If that was the case, John was more than happy to stay in the dark.

"No, absolutely not. There is NOTHING going on John, okay?" Juliana wanted to make it clear to him, no matter how much it hurt inside. "My mind is focused solely on finding out who's helping this son of a bitch and stopping them so we can get our normal lives back. Whatever normal is these days." She snorted derisively.

"Normal: A state of boredom which would drive you nuts. You like hanging out with me because I'm not normal, remember?" John teased, trying to lighten the sullen mood. "Where did Rent-A-Cop get off to anyway?"

"Out looking through the woods." Undertaker stated, walking into the living room from the kitchen, wiping sweat off his forehead with his bandana and dropped down into a chair.

"There's your answer, now stop asking me questions about him. I'm not the man's keeper, John." Juliana chastised, glaring at John and sighed when he winced again, remorse filling her eyes. "You're taking aspirin for it and if you don't, I'm shoving them down your throat."

It wasn't a threat as she stood up and walked into the kitchen, looking through cabinets to find some. Undertaker ignored the furious look John shot him and stood up, following Juliana, not surprised to find her searching the cabinets. He walked up right behind her, their bodies pressed together. Reaching over the cabinets, Undertaker brought his hand back down to eye level with her, holding out a bottle of aspirin.

"Looking for these?"

"Thanks." She mumbled, taking them from him gently, and could already feel her heart pounding just from being this close to him.

Her body already lit aflame. Juliana swallowed hard before shakily opening the bottle, having a tough time with it, and finally managed getting two pills out for John. Undertaker reached down to take the bottle from her shaking hands. His fingers brushed against her as he screwed the lid back on before replacing the aspirin above the counter. He didn't move from his place as he got out a glass and leaned over to fill it with water, silently holding it out to her.

She mentally cursed for being in this proximity and knew he did it on purpose. Juliana could almost FEEL his amusement and slowly stepped away from him, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Clearing her throat loudly, a lump formed that she had a tough time swallowing past. Juliana walked back into the living room and held out the glass of water and pills to John, blue eyes narrowed.

"Take them or I'll shove them down your throat, bro."

John rolled his eyes and took them grudgingly, knowing she'd do it if he didn't comply. "Bossy wench." He growled, sipping down the water. "Anything else, Mom?"

"Yeah, if you call me Mom again, I'll give you another bullet wound right in your damn head." She stated in an illusorily sweet tone, walking away from him again with the empty glass.

Rinsing it out before setting it in the dishwasher, Juliana sighed heavily, turning on the water and cupped her hands, splashing the cold liquid on her face. She wasn't surprised when a towel dangled in her face. Taking it, Juliana patted her face dry before hanging it over the stove handle and walked over to stare out the glass door. Undertaker shook his head, looking both annoyed and amused.

"Aren't you even the least bit curious about what I found out there in the woods?" He asked, leaning against the cupboards, arms folded across his denim covered chest.

Turning around to face Undertaker, her blue eyes widened slightly as Juliana shot him a look that clearly spoke volumes. "I'm very interested in what you found, Taker. Please enlighten us." She leaned against the table John now sat at, having hopped his ass out there, fully prepared to risk Juliana's wrath.

Undertaker looked back and forth between them for a moment. "The tracks in the woods from the first shooter were small. Maybe about your shoe size, half size bigger." He said thoughtfully. "They weren't imprinted too deeply so I'm going to go out on a limb and venture we have a woman hitter."

"Christ…" Juliana muttered under her breath and instantly began pacing, rubbing her hands together, racking her brain on who could possibly be after her. "John, start thinking!" She snapped, seeing him just sitting there dumbfounded. "A woman? Do you KNOW how many women out there are envious of me because of my family's fortune?" She groaned, scrubbing her hands down her face. "This is hopeless. We're never going to find out who it is."

"I suggest you both start making a list of women who are…envious…of you, Juliana." Undertaker said in a voice that clearly said he wasn't suggesting anything, merely ordering. "You might want to start thinking of women who somehow know Anderson."

John snorted. "I hope you have a lot of paper, Rent-A-Cop."

"Enough to wrap your carcass in a few times over."

"You don't understand, Taker. It's every woman. Everywhere I go, when I do go out, women left and right glare at me. This is going to be like finding a needle in a haystack." She groaned more, feeling a headache coming on and plopped down at the table, frustration building. "Writing down all those names won't solve anything. It'll take weeks to pinpoint every single one because they're all over the damn city. Now if you're wondering if I know any women, the answer is no. Kenneth never had any women, not any that I've ever met anyway, so scratch that."

"Think, Juliana. Most women who are just jealous DON'T go on a murder spree." Undertaker said coldly. "So you need to rack that head of yours and think about someone who has a reason to really hate you. Someone with more in it than your damn money."

"I'm trying, you asshole!" Juliana snapped, standing up from the table and glared contemptuously. "What the hell do you think I've been TRYING to do for the past four months?" All of her frustration spilled out and Juliana finally lashed out, squaring her shoulders, refusing to back down from him.

"Try harder." Undertaker said flatly, not impressed or bothered in the slightest by her outburst.

"Can't you give her a break?" John asked softly, not about to get punched in the head again. "She's been through an awful lot lately."

"Which is WHY she needs to try harder." Undertaker argued, not looking away from Juliana, his expression unreadable. "There's no time for breaks. There are two shooters out there and they're desperate by now to kill you."

"You know what? If you don't stop pushing me, I swear to you, I'll take your knife and end it MYSELF!" She shrieked, running out of the kitchen and upstairs to her room, slamming the door behind her.

Locking it, tears streamed down her cheeks, her chest constricting agonizingly. Her head pounded so hard, it felt like a beating drum. Juliana pressed her forehead to the window, staring out of it, and wrapped her arms around herself. Undertaker pressuring her didn't help the situation and would cause her to have a mental and physical breakdown if he didn't stop.

John was silent as Undertaker followed her, heard a soft thump from above, and followed by him coming back downstairs. "Umm what did you do?"

"Put the knife in her door." Undertaker replied casually.

"She didn't mean it!" John shouted furiously.

"Really?" Undertaker arched an eyebrow. "Then she'd better stop acting like a damn child. She can have a breakdown AFTER these fuckers are found and taken care of. She won't be able to help herself if she has one now."

Juliana just stood at the window for hours on end, staring at the plain landscape, not moving an inch. The tears had long ago stopped and now she racked her tired brain. Who could it be? Who could this woman be that helped Kenneth? Maybe it was just one of his best friends she didn't know about?

The man was resourceful after all. Juliana knew the only way to find out. She decided she'd talk to John about it first before enlightening Rent-A-Cop about it. Undertaker had pushed her too hard, so desperate times called for desperate measures; since obviously he wanted to be rid of her as soon as possible.

"Hey um Jules, can I come in?" John called later that day, mildly concerned when she hadn't come back downstairs.

Undertaker had gone back outside to do something or other. John had purposely ignored him, not even wanting to know what Rent-A-Cop did. John stared at the knife embedded in the wooden door, pulling it out and tossed it in his bedroom, not wanting Juliana to see it. "Jules?"

Sighing upon hearing her John's voice, Juliana walked away from the window and over to the door, opening it up to let him inside and closed it straightaway, locking it. John limped over to the bed, forcing another stab of guilt to pierce through Juliana. She would never forgive herself for what happened to John and that's why they had to put this situation with Kenneth to rest sooner rather than later.

"I've decided that the only way to get these assholes is to give them what they want." When John started snapping, Juliana slapped him across the face, not hard, but enough to let him know not to start with her. "Listen to me," She ordered, sitting down beside him, and took his hand in her own. "We could set up a trap to where they reveal themselves. They're not going to come out without thinking they have me in their grasp."

"You already know Undertaker isn't going to go for this!" John said, more than a little miffed. "What happens if this all goes wrong, Juliana? You ever think about that?" He shook his head, not about to let her put herself at risk like that. "Nuh-uh…"

"Jonathan, stop it!" Juliana cried, tears filling her eyes, and stood up from the bed as she began pacing. "Stop treating me like a porcelain doll! This is the only way to get them to come out and reveal themselves! If this goes wrong, then it goes wrong, but I'm tired of running and I'm tired of hiding! I want this to end so I can get my life back!"

John was silent for a good ten minutes, looking like he wanted to cry. This was his little sister and he would have gladly taken her place if he could. However, he knew that couldn't happen because he wasn't the actual target, Juliana was. He sighed when he heard Undertaker's deliberate heavy footsteps downstairs.

"YOU can tell him." He said flatly.

"I planned on doing it anyway." Juliana walked over, getting down on her knees in front of him and took his face in her hands, seeing the tears in his eyes. "John please, I need your support with this. I'm scared to death right now, but this is the only way." She whispered pleadingly and pressed her forehead to his, sighing shakily when he nodded. "I'll be back. Stay here." She swept out of the room and headed downstairs to have a little heart to heart with Undertaker.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Undertaker sat on the couch, going over a folder he had brought with him, studying its contents. He had a glass of whiskey before him on the coffee table, sipping it when he heard Juliana behind him. He didn't bother looking up at her, trying to find the one thing that eluded him. She moved to stand in front of him, crossing her arms in front of her chest, and didn't care if he looked up at her or not.

"I decided that the only way to catch these bastards once and for all is to use me as bait." Juliana sucked in a deep breath and closed her eyes before continuing. "I figure we could put me out there, making them think they have me in their grasp, and force them to reveal themselves. You could be there to do what you do best. This is the only way because I can't think of a single woman in my past that would want to hurt me. I've already talked to John about this and he's on my side."

Undertaker didn't bother looking at her, calmly taking a sip of his whiskey, and set it back down. "And if I say no you're going to do it anyway and get your fool ass killed. Where you figuring on doing this, Juliana?"

"The mansion I would say would be the best place. I already know my father is dead. You didn't even have to tell me that." A hint of hurt entered her voice, quickly hidden with disdain. "Taker, if you have ANY other suggestions on how to get them to reveal themselves then please, tell me. I told you last night, I trust you and I want your help. I'm putting this in your hands and just throwing the idea out there."

"My suggestion would be to wait here. From the looks of things, these two are impatient and will probably try again tonight or tomorrow." He replied coolly. "But the choice is yours, Juliana. It's your life on the line."

"You mean just hide out and do nothing." Juliana scoffed, unable to accept that, but knew she had no alternative. This was in Undertaker's hand and she trusted him. "You don't want to end this now?" She asked him finally, confusion entering her eyes. "Don't you want this to be over so we can both get on with our lives?"

"Juliana, if we leave to head back to the mansion now, you'd have to wait either way." Undertaker sighed, standing up and turned to look at her, noting the look of frustration on her face. "Go pack, we're leaving within the next ten minutes." He said finally, not wanting to fight with her anymore.

Juliana started heading that way when shots rang throughout the house, causing her to scream in fright, and dropped to the floor. She covered her ears with her hands, shaking from head to toe, and squeezed her eyes tightly shut. Undertaker dropped down as well, quickly moving and dragged her back against him, a gun already in his hand.

"Fuck! They're a bit early." He growled irritably.

"SORRY!" John yelled, appearing at the top of the steps, holding a gun in one trembling hand. "I uh…it was an accident?" He said meekly, backing away as Undertaker slowly stood up.

Juliana first breathed a sigh of relief when she heard John's voice, then heard his confession, and felt Undertaker tense since he had a hold of her hand. She slowly stood up with him, shaking from head to toe and swallowed hard, knowing Undertaker was beyond pissed at this point. She wasn't crying, just trembling incredibly hard.

"Please don't." She begged, not letting go of his hand and blinked when he pushed her away, heading for the stairs.

Undertaker growled, shrugging her off. "I'm going to kill him." He said in a low dangerous tone of voice, paying her no mind when she grabbed his arm. He raced up the steps in a heartbeat, knocking the gun out of John's hand, and pinned him against the wall. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING WITH A GUN?"

"I found it in my room!" John squeaked out. "In a box under the bed!"

"So you thought you'd play with it, boy?" Undertaker demanded angrily. "This isn't cops and robbers, you damn fool!"

"John, just apologize to the Neanderthal." Juliana grunted, stepping between them, and wrapped her arm around John's waist. "Come on, I'll make you something to eat." She said quietly and helped him downstairs; ignoring Undertaker's ticked off expression. Pushing John down on the couch, Juliana proceeded to start making some soup for him. "Don't protest either. I know you're starving." She pulled out a pan and found a few cans of soup in the cupboard surprisingly.

John sighed, watching her. "I didn't mean to startle you guys." He apologized softly. "I didn't even…" He groaned, banging his head down on the table. "Taker is going to kill me isn't he?"

"Don't John, it was an accident." Her voice carried into the living room, soft yet stern. Juliana started the stove and poured the soup into the pot, beginning to stir it. "He won't touch you or else I'll end up hurting him." She promised darkly, not taking her attention off the soup.

John ran a shaky hand through his hair, studying her thoughtfully. "Something tells me Taker wouldn't mind it so much if you tried to hurt him." He retorted, watching for her reaction intently.

"If you don't want this SCALDING pot of soup in your lap, you best tighten your that lip, John." Juliana warned, tensing at the stove, and even her stirring. She blinked and mentally shook herself before stirring once more, pouring it into a bowl for him. "I told you, there's nothing going on between us." She raised an eyebrow up at him, holding the bowl of hot soup in her hands. "Are we clear on that? Can we LET the subject go?"

John arched an eyebrow, an innocent expression crossing his face and nodded, busying himself with his steaming hot soup. "Crystal clear." He said softly, stirring it. "So…uh…what did he say about your idea?"

"He didn't like it, but said we'd do it if I wanted to." She plopped down on the couch beside him, bringing her legs up, and pressed them against her chest while leaning her head on the cushion. "We're gonna have to wait it out. Even if I did put myself out there, Kenneth isn't stupid and neither is this bitch that's helping him, whoever she is." She spoke quietly.

John sighed almost in relief, nodding his head. "You know, even if we had gone back, there would have been a lot of people around you. Your Dad's wealthy…even with him probably being…dead." John coughed awkwardly. "That place would be swamped with cops; you'd never be able to put your plan into action."

"I know that." Juliana whispered, watching him eat, satisfied.

She didn't know what to do anymore. Part of her wanted to just jump the gun, but Juliana knew if she did, she'd end up getting killed. Undertaker was right; she had to wait it out. They had to all just wait it out and see where this went. Waiting sucked, but that's all Juliana could do right now.

Undertaker finally came down the stairs, looking much more calmer now. He had taken a cold shower, letting the icy water cool his boiling blood. He wore a pair of black jeans and black leather vest, his wet hair hanging down his back. He grunted when John offered him an apologetic smile and pulled out the gun John played with earlier, tossing it at him. John caught it and stared down at it, wondering why Undertaker gave him a gun of all things.

"I took the clip out." Undertaker's green eyes flashed. "So you can play big boys with it." John's cheeks reddened.

Juliana sighed, taking the gun away from John and threw it to the floor, shaking her head at him and pointed to his soup. She leaned back against the couch, deep in her own thoughts. When John finished, she smiled at him appreciatively and took the bowl into the kitchen, setting it in the sink. She still felt guilty for what happened to him so, until he healed fully, she would wait on him hand and foot, whether he liked it or not. Her thoughts suddenly turned to Undertaker, causing her to frown and pushed him in the far recesses of her mind.

'Forget him.' She mentally coached before sitting down at the kitchen table and looked outside.

"You need to eat too." Undertaker commented from his place in the doorway, leaning against the frame, staring down at her. "And don't argue because John agrees with me."

"Eat something, Jules!" John shouted from his spot on the couch, causing Undertaker to actually grin.

"How about not and say I did?" She retorted, rolling her eyes, not looking away from the window and closed her eyes.

She wasn't hungry. Food was the last thing on her mind and these two were not about to force her to do it either. She'd either vomit or feel sick for the rest of the night if she ate when she didn't want to. Undertaker shrugged and walked over to one of the cabinets, rifling around in a cupboard before sitting down across from her, a bottle of Tequila Rose in his hand. He leaned back in his chair, out of her reach and took a swallow.

"Hey boy, you thirsty?"

John hopped out of the living room, looking at the bottle and shrugged. "Sure, I'll knock one back."

"Party it up, morons." Juliana spat, standing up and walked out of the room, not believing what an asshole Undertaker could be.

"I think she's pissed." John commented, accepting the shot Undertaker held out to him. "Um…is this a good idea?"

"I don't know about you, boy, but I know how much I can handle." Undertaker replied, smiling grimly. It took a LOT to get him drunk and this pink stuff didn't do it. John shrugged, knowing one shot wouldn't kill him and swallowed it down.

Juliana walked up the stairs to her room, slamming the door shut and locked it. She'd gotten accustomed to doing this and it didn't bother her. For some reason, Juliana had the urge to go through her suitcase, not knowing what to look for. She fished through it and sighed when she found a picture.

It was her mother. Juliana pushed her suitcase away and just stared at the picture thoughtfully, her eyebrows furrowed together. She ran her fingertips down it, tears instantly coming to her eyes, and walked over to sit down on the bed. Her mother was beautiful with waist length golden blonde hair and the same colored eyes as Juliana.

"Mom, why can't you be here to help me through this?" She whispered softly, raking her hands through her hair, and set the picture down beside her before lying down on the bed.

Her stomach growled fiercely at her, but Juliana just ignored it as tears slipped down her cheeks. She buried her face in her pillow and pressed the picture to her chest, shutting her eyes. Undertaker stared at Juliana's door, holding a plate with a sandwich on it, not believing he let John talk him into this. Finally, he knocked once before stepping inside, expecting another boot to come flying at his face.

"John says you have to eat something." He said flatly, setting the plate down on the stand next to the bed. "What's that you got?"

"Nothing." Juliana sniffled, sliding the picture under the pillow, not looking at him. She was tired, confused, hurt and the last thing she wanted to do was eat the stupid sandwich. "Just leave me alone please." She whispered, shifting so her back faced him. She did not want to see anyone right now, especially Undertaker.

Undertaker shook his head, walking over to sit on the bed beside her, laying a hand on her shoulder. "You still pissed off with me, Jules?" He asked softly, trying to decide if he really cared or not. She was a bit of a stubborn bitch after all.

"I just want to be left alone." She insisted, ignoring his question, and shrugged his hand away.

Juliana missed her mother, even though she barely knew her. The woman ran out on her and her father at the tender age of three. Her father told her that her mother died in a tragic car accident a few years after she left them. This was probably the only picture she had of her and she knew Undertaker probably knocked it inside her suitcase while packing her things accidentally.

"I can see you want to be left alone, darlin', but I'm not leaving." Undertaker informed her patiently. Moving his hand back to her shoulder, he rolled her over on her back so he could stare down at her, genuinely concerned that breakdown might happen.

"You're just up here to make sure that I don't have a breakdown. Rest easy, asshole. I'm not going to." She shot back heatedly, turning away from him again, the tears continuing to fall while pulling the picture beneath the pillow to press against her chest.

Undertaker didn't take any offense to being called an asshole; he'd been called a hell of a lot worse in his time. He had seen the picture and pulled it from her unwilling hand, studying it intently. "Who's this?" He asked curiously.

Sniffling a little, Juliana snatched the picture away from him and glared. "She's my mother and she's dead, so you can single her out of the equation." Her voice held hurt and anger as she looked down, not able to meet his eyes and replaced the picture under her pillow.

Undertaker rolled his eyes, gripping her chin and forced her to look up at him, his piercing green eyes devouring her. "I'm trying to protect your ass. Mind telling me why you hate me so damn much?" He demanded gruffly.

"I don't hate you. You just don't seem to know when to stop pushing and prodding." Juliana pulled her chin out of his grip, not wanting him to touch any part of her body. "Please don't touch me." She gently ordered, drawing her knees up to her chest and fought back all the feelings only Undertaker could stir up inside of her.

Undertaker unfolded and pulled her up by the arms, staring into her eyes. "Why not? Afraid you'll like it?" He challenged, brushing his lips against hers almost lovingly.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"Stop it!" She whispered harshly, pulling away from him and yanked the comforter up, rubbing her arms with her hands.

This bastard had A LOT of nerve doing what he just did and now her body was lit on fire again. Juliana didn't want him because she knew nothing would come of it. She moved when he reached for her again and shook her head, scowling.

"I told you I don't want you." She tried to stem the shakiness out of her voice and couldn't.

"I don't believe you." Undertaker said evenly, pulling away the comforter.

He dragged her down onto the bed and straddled her legs, having her completely at his mercy. Bending down to kiss her again, Undertaker feathered his lips over hers, smirking when she slowly started kissing him back. Only when he felt her start to melt against him did Undertaker break the kiss, his lips hovering over hers.

"You really don't want me hmm?"

Juliana's head spun from the soft kiss and had to do something fast before she gave in. She blinked a little before staring straight into his eyes, setting her lips in a firm grim line. Juliana tried shoving him off of her, but with his weight and her size, it was physically impossible.

"I don't want you. Find someone else."

Undertaker shook his head, obviously not believing her. He ran a hand down her body, sliding it under the waistband of her jeans, and cupped her hot sex. "This says you're lying." He whispered, lowering his head to kiss her neck, gently caressing her through the panties she wore.

Juliana gasped at the contact of his fingers stroking her and immediately tried shoving him away, panic starting to set in. "Stop it!" She whispered breathlessly, gripping his wrist, trying with everything in her power to stop this from happening.

Her body deceived her as Juliana began melting against him; the feeling of his lips on her neck and his hand caressing her like almost too much for her to take. He chuckled darkly, moving his kisses down over her the thin material of her tank top, his strong hands sliding her jeans and panties down her legs. Undertaker didn't give her much time to react, just buried his face in her pussy, running his tongue up her wet slit.

"Why?" Undertaker drawled huskily, looking up to meet her eyes. "You want me…I want you…"

He then captured her clit between his lips, his strong hands on her hips. Juliana cried out softly when she felt his slick warm tongue against her sex, her mind swirling and spiraling out of control. She'd never experienced this and involuntarily bucked her hips against his mouth. Arching her body against him, Juliana's fingers instantly delved into his hair and gripped it tightly while tilting her head back. She couldn't believe the intense sensations coursing throughout her body and suddenly felt something building inside of her.

"Taker…" She breathed out shakily, a hot coil forming in the deep bowels of her abdomen.

Her eyes drifted shut, black hair splayed all around her. Undertaker moved so her legs were over his shoulders, pulling her lower body off the bed, wanting to watch her face while he pleasured her. He could feel her trembling and smirked, his green eyes darkening at the look on her face.

"Don't fight it, Juliana…" He coaxed in a murmur, circling her clit with his tongue.

He inhaled sharply when she called out his name, moving his head down to slide his tongue inside of her, groaning when he tasted her sweeter than nectar juices.

Juliana cried out softly, not able to suppress them any further, and gripped his hair even more. She bowed her body off the bed, breathing raggedly.

Whipping her head back, Juliana felt something start to tear throughout her. It was an orgasm, an earthshattering orgasm. Not completely deluded when it came to sex, Juliana collapsed on the bed, still fighting him. Juliana cried out his name again, this time finally letting the hot coil spring free as her hot juices flowed from her trembling body and into Undertaker's hot very willing mouth. Perspiration coated her body in a fine sheen, her heart pounding vigorously in her chest and could hardly breathe, not believing what just happened. Her mind clouded in a thick passion haze, causing her senses to reel more.

"Christ…"

Undertaker could feel his own body trembling slightly and just gently lowered her to the bed, remaining on his knees, needing to calm himself down. He stared at her, taking in her flushed cheeks and gently heaving chest. He shifted to gently lie on top of her, kissing her affectionately. Not wanting to stop her from trying to catch her second wind, Undertaker couldn't help himself. He trailed kisses to her throat, his hands running up under her tank top to her breasts.

The alarm bells were ringing in her head, even though his touch felt so wonderful, and Juliana knew she had to stop this. With all the strength left in her body, Juliana shoved him off of her, causing him to land on the floor and scurried back on the bed, tears in her midnight blue eyes.

"Get out!" She ordered, pointing at the door and snatched up the pair of cotton shorts along with her panties, already sliding them on under the comforter.

How could she allow Undertaker to do something like that to her?! Was she insane?! This man would cause her nothing except heartache and she refused to allow it to happen. No matter how many times her body engulfed in flames. Undertaker growled, kicking the door shut before stalking over to the bed. He ripped away the comforter and put a halt on her pulling on her shorts and panties, planting a knee between her legs with one hand on either side of her head.

"I know you want me, Juliana. So what's holding you back? Are you scared?" Undertaker demanded, his voice harsh with passion, searching her eyes intently.

Juliana let out a small scream when he ripped the comforter from her, staring into the intense eyes of a man determined. "I'm not giving into you no matter what you do to me." She said defiantly, trying to stop trembling in fear and desire. Juliana tried scooting away from him, but she was trapped like helpless prey and Undertaker was the predator. She didn't know what else to say. What could she say? "John is downstairs." She reminded him, swallowing hard and lowered her gaze again.

"So? What's he going to do besides stand there and watch?" Undertaker remarked, bending down to kiss her, ripping her tank top right down the middle. "You never answered me, Juliana." He whispered, moving his head down to kiss the upper swell of her breasts. "Why are you fighting what you so obviously desire?" While Undertaker had her distracted with his questioning, he unsnapped her bra and tossed it over her shoulder. Staring down at her for a moment, Undertaker captured a pert nipple in his mouth, biting gently then soothing it with his tongue.

"Stop it!" Juliana cried out, scared to death now as she shoved away from him, kicking him in the stomach.

Ripping her top down the middle was all that had to happen and Juliana no longer felt desire for him. She saw a monster before her and bounded off the bed, pulling her shorts and panties back up all the way. Trying to hold her destroyed top together the best she could against her bare breasts –Juliana didn't have a bra on, thankfully-, the straps were dangling.

"GET OUT!" She shrieked, tears streaming down her face, trembling from head to toe. He'd scared the hell out of her and Juliana suddenly wondered if the only reason Undertaker agreed to help her in the first place was to get in her panties. She stumbled back when he took a step towards her, causing her to trip over her shoes and fell to the floor, immediately scrambling away. "Stay away from me!"

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON UP THERE?" John roared from the bottom of the steps. "JULIANA?"

Undertaker curled his upper lip at her in a sneer. "She's fine…She fell over her damn shoes!" He growled, shaking his head before walking out. He passed John on the steps, ignoring the disbelieving look on the boy's face.

"What'd he do?" John demanded, limping into the bedroom. "Jules, what'd that son of a bitch do?"

Juliana couldn't even speak as she sobbed violently, causing John to come to her aid and clutched him for dear life. Her lips were swollen, top ripped right down the middle and she had handprints on her body, courtesy of Undertaker. He hadn't hurt her or anything, only scared her. Juliana wrapped her arms around his neck tightly, sobbing now, and shook violently.

So close.

Undertaker had been so close to raping her and taking what he wanted. John asked her questions, but Juliana didn't hear them. She cried too hard to really hear anything at the moment. John guided her to the bed, pulling her on his lap, never stopping the rubbing of her back. He seen her tank top, the marks on her body, and felt his body tensing with rage.

"Did he…did he hurt you, Jules?" He asked gently, not letting her hear or see how angry he was. If Undertaker had, by some miracle force, John would somehow rip that asshole's throat out with his own bare hands.

"No…" She whispered, chest heaving as she buried her face in the crook of her brother's neck, holding onto him for dear life. "He was close…" She admitted and clutched her tank top shut as she looked into his enraged blue eyes. "I fought him off. He…scared me and that's…how I tripped over my shoes…"

She burst out crying again, burying her face in her hands and began shaking so hard, her teeth chattered. John growled and started physically shaking with fury. He had to set Juliana down on the bed before standing, trying to keep himself under control, staring down at her out of murderous eyes.

"I'm going to kill him." He announced in a low lethal tone. "I'm going to fucking kill him, Jules."

"John, please don't!" She cried fearfully, grabbing his arm and turned him to face her, not even caring about her tank top at the moment. "Please, just leave it alone." Burying her face in his chest, Juliana gripped his shirt tightly. "You were right. There is something between us, alright?" Juliana pushed away from him and wrapped her arms around herself. "He came in here last night and yelled at me, then comforted me, and we kissed…a lot…" She trailed off and started pacing back and forth. "He's trying to get me to submit to him because he knows I want him. I'm not going to do it though. I'm saving myself for the person I'm going to spend the rest of my life with and, fuck it, if I don't find him, I'll die a virgin." She collapsed on the bed in sheer exhaustion. "Just let it go. It's not worth it. I just want to get this over and done with so I never have to see him again."

John sighed heavily, for now willing to go with whatever she wanted because first off, he didn't want to cause her more pain. Secondly, they needed Undertaker, as much as John hated admitting it, they needed the man. Though, after this situation ended, all bets were off. John didn't care how good Undertaker was, he wouldn't get away with what he did to Juliana.

"Here, I'll step out for a minute so you can change." He whispered, keeping his eyes above her chest because he really didn't need to see her bare cans.

"Alright."

Once the door closed, Juliana felt the tears stream down her cheeks and walked over to the dresser. She had to steady herself with shaky hands as she pulled a long sleeved shirt on with pajama pants. From now on, no matter how hot the weather, she wouldn't show an inch of skin to Undertaker unless she had to. The shirt and pajama pants were black as she brushed her hair and slowly made her way out of the room, seeing John standing in the hallway.

"I'm fine, bro." She assured him softly, touching his arm, jolting him out of his thoughts. "Please just forget it." Her voice cracked, even as she tried hiding it.

John wanted to ask her how could he, but didn't, not wanting to distress her any more than she already was. He looped an arm around her waist and stared at her bed. Her bed where she had almost been raped in. No way could she sleep alone tonight; John didn't care if he had a bum leg and aching head, he would do whatever it took to keep Rent-A-Cop away from her.

"Come on…" He gently guided her across the hall into his room. "You can use my room." He said firmly, sighing with relief when she didn't argue with him for a change.

"I'm not going to sleep. If you want, go ahead. I'm going downstairs by the fireplace." She looked into his blue eyes, touching his face with her hand, and smiled when she automatically seen the protectiveness in his eyes. "I'll scream if I need you, alright?" She assured him, noting his exhaustion and gently pushed him inside his room, kissing his cheek. "It'll be fine, I promise."

Juliana closed the door behind her and let out a shaky breath, holding her stomach before heading downstairs. There was no sign of Undertaker anywhere in sight and Juliana was thankful for that. Juliana walked into the living room, seeing the fire still crackling with life and sat down on the couch. She brought her knees up to press against her chest and buried her face in them, crying silently, not believing she'd almost been raped by the man that promised to protect her.

Sitting out on the front porch, the lights were off and that was fine with him. Undertaker could see quite well by the light of the moon. He just stared out in front of him, green eyes scanning the woods, not believing how fast it had gotten dark. Though he figured the rest of day had burned away while busy with Juliana. Undertaker knew he frightened her when he ripped her tank top. That apparently had been his mistake, yet Undertaker wasn't all that sorry he did it honestly. Yes, he knew she was a virgin, but also a borderline tease. He sighed, rubbing the butt of his gun against his forehead before resting it on his knee, wondering what would happen now.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Over the next week, Juliana refused to come out of her room, having changed the sheets and everything. She negated to face Undertaker while they were hiding out. She would spend her days staring out the window or just laying down, thinking about the task at hand. Juliana wore a long sleeved blue shirt with a pair of matching pants. She knew she'd probably teased Undertaker or set him off somehow by showing skin, so she tried really hard not to do it again. It was her fault. Juliana should've known better than to allow the flirting to progress as far as it had, even though she adamantly said no. Sighing with a heavy heart, Juliana curled up and just stared at the wall, remaining silent.

Undertaker ignored the usual look of loathe John shot him as he passed him on the stairs, heading directly to his room. He had spent some time out in the woods and found an interesting bit of litter on the ground. Pictures of Juliana in her bedroom…at HIS house, which meant someone spied on her. Sighing, Undertaker took a wild guess in assuming it was Anderson or his accomplice, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. He'd been outside on the porch every night, doing patrols around the house every half hour. Nobody would be senseless enough to approach him, but Undertaker wasn't leaving anything to chance. Tossing the pictures on his bed, Undertaker debated on whether or not to go hunting tonight.

After she heard Undertaker's bedroom door close, Juliana quietly snuck out, tiptoeing down the stairs and into the kitchen. She knew Undertaker went to catch a quick nap. It's what she did every day to avoid him, especially since he'd become almost oblivious of her existence. She didn't care. Juliana walked into the kitchen, grabbing a glass out of the cupboard and filled it with water. She hadn't slept at all this past week. Every time she did, Undertaker's green eyes flashed through her mind, scaring her awake. She raked a hand through her hair, sipping it slowly, and started heading back up to her room.

Undertaker halted when he spotted Juliana in the hallway, a glass of water in her hand. He hesitated, having been avoiding her the entire week like the plague. Partially due to the fact that Undertaker was actually afraid he'd forcefully finish what he started. The other part being she was terrified of him. That bothered him because, for some ungodly reason, Undertaker didn't want her to fear him. He didn't know what he wanted from her, but definitely not that.

"You need to start keeping your window shades down from now on." Undertaker informed her, breaking the silence between them, his mind straying to those pictures he found in the woods.

Juliana trembled from head to toe, keeping her eyes on the floor, and nodded once before walking back into the kitchen. She wanted to go outside, but that was simply out of the question. Feeling like a prisoner, Juliana knew it was for her own good. She sat down at the kitchen table, not facing Undertaker, her eyes wandering to the outdoors and picked her glass up, taking another sip. She hadn't spoken a word to Undertaker in the past week and hadn't heard any from him except for demands and orders.

Undertaker knew he sounded like an asshole, but honestly didn't know how else to talk to her. So whenever he did say something, he barked at her. Though this time, he thought he'd been reasonably gentle, telling her straight and quietly. Pulling out one picture he'd kept on him from his back pocket, Undertaker laid it down in front of her silently. Juliana literally jumped out of her skin when he approached her, causing the water to splash all over her, and quickly backed the chair away.

She took a few deep breaths to calm her racing heart and took the picture, knowing it's what Undertaker found in the woods. It was her slipping on undergarments. Upon closer inspection, Juliana immediately dropped the picture on the table, swallowing hard. It was from the night Undertaker nearly raped her, the aftermath, and she was holding the ripped top in her hand.

"I'm probably going to stake out the woods tonight, Juliana." Undertaker said softly, pulling a gun from his back pocket and held it out to her, not knowing whether or not she'd try to kill him, but he'd risk it. "You know how to use one of these?"

"Give it to John." She whispered in reply.

Noticing the weapon out of the corner of her eye with her back turned to him, Juliana tried with all her power not to react at the closeness. Her conscience battled once again, half of it demanding to stay as far away from this man as possible while the other half rationalized what happened and craved to be in his arms again. Juliana wiped some of the spilled water from her shirt and started cleaning up the mess she'd made, having dripped water on the floor.

"I'm giving it to you, Juliana." Undertaker did what he hadn't in a week and touched her, gently turning her to face him. Juliana instantly tensed and flinched, immediately stood to her feet as she shook her head, forcing Undertaker to pull his hand away quickly. "I've already handed John one…and taught him how to use it. I'm going to be gone for an hour or longer tonight and you're going to need something just in case. Now…do you know how to use it?"

"I don't want it."

She wrapped her arms around herself and headed down the hallway upstairs. Juliana didn't want anything to do with those deadly contraptions and knew Undertaker's departure was because of her. If thinking logically, he would simply stay put. Then again, she couldn't even look at him without feeling terror wash over her body. Undertaker sighed, walking out to the living room and tossed the gun in John's lap.

"Make sure she gets this." He ordered evenly.

"She doesn't like guns." John shot back coldly.

"Well she'd better learn how to snuggle with it because it could be the difference between life and death for her." Undertaker replied coldly. "I'm going to sleep for an hour while there's day left."

"Bye." John waved three fingers behind Undertaker's back mockingly.

Juliana watched as Undertaker walked back to his bedroom, suddenly feeling the overwhelming urge to talk to him. She couldn't allow the fear to overtake her, not when they were close to ending this with Kenneth. She carefully tiptoed down the hallway and upstairs, seeing the black wooden door open. Undertaker was busy gathering a few weapons for his departure before his quick nap, though Juliana wouldn't let him sleep until they talked first. Clearing her throat loudly from the doorway to gain his attention, it didn't surprise Juliana when Undertaker didn't acknowledge her presence.

"You know it's a trap, right?" She asked in a soft, barely audible, voice and kept her head lowered.

Undertaker nodded solemnly, not looking at her. "I know it is." He said in a low voice. "But it's our best shot. You need to get your life back and I need to get out of your life." He laughed under his breath irreverently. "I'm entering the woods by east; where they scoped you is west of here." He squared his shoulders, turning to face her. "Anderson and whoever's with him WON'T make it this far, you got my word, Juliana."

"I don't believe you anymore. I don't believe anything. You're deserting us and that's fine. You go right ahead and do that because you know what? I'm deserting you!"

Overwhelming anger flooded through her and Juliana bolted away from the doorway, flying downstairs. Tossing open the front door, she snatched the keys to the car on her way out, slamming it behind her. Juliana didn't stop and slid in the car, tears streaming down her cheeks. Screw Undertaker. She would do this on her own. She wouldn't wait for death to find her; instead, Juliana planned on running straight toward it with open arms.

"GODDAMN HER!" Undertaker bellowed, chasing her outside and halted at the sight of her speeding away in the car, shaking his head. "Stupid dumb bitch!"

"What the hell happened?" John demanded, following Undertaker out the door, his blue eyes enlarged as the huge cloud of dust in the driveway.

"Juliana took off, what does it look like?" Undertaker snarled, already stalking around the side of the house to the shed.

"WHAT'D YOU DO TO HER?" John bellowed, chasing after him, his leg only giving him a bit of trouble since it healed for the most part.

"Told her the truth." Undertaker didn't stop, walking out of the shed a few minutes later, pushing a black Harley motorcycle with him.

"If anything happens to her…" John trailed off, coughing back dust as Undertaker sped out of there and down the street after Juliana.

Juliana kept driving, her hands gripping the steering wheel tightly, not about to die out here. If she died it would be in her home with her father, even though she loathed him. She couldn't believe everything that happened, that Undertaker gave up on her. They weren't together, but he promised to protect her, no matter what. Even though she feared him, Juliana was somehow in love with the brute and needed him.

"Fuck him. He can go back to his life and leave me alone." She hissed heartbrokenly, pushing the gas pedal more, speeding down the road faster.

Undertaker's green eyes narrowed when he spotted the car just ahead of him, cursing as an SUV drove up alongside of him. Glancing at the tinted windows, Undertaker dropped back when the driver tried to plow him off the road. Anderson!

"FUCK!" He bellowed, knowing Juliana was in serious trouble.

Juliana saw the SUV coming up on her, followed by Undertaker on a black motorcycle and punched the gas, driving at a speed close to ninety miles an hour. She didn't care as she gripped the steering wheel tighter, refusing to stop and refusing to give up. She knew it was Kenneth. Noticing the blue SUV being Kenneth's that he used to pick her up in for their dates, Juliana finally couldn't handle it anymore, seeing he about plowed Undertaker down. Screeching to a halt, the tires left black smears on the road, smoke surrounding her as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Undertaker cursed, hitting the brakes and skidded, the bike tipping and sliding down the road, trapping him underneath it, sparks flying. He gritted his teeth against the pain and let go, grunting when the bike went flying without him and rolled, feeling his bleeding leg scraped even more. Undertaker stood up in time to witness the SUV slammed right into Juliana's car and watched in horror as it veered off the road and into the ditch.

"FUCK!" He roared, wincing at his leg, but had to get to Juliana.

Kenneth didn't even bother waiting around, spotting Undertaker slowly approaching in the rearview mirror. He glanced at the destroyed car and smirked. That little bitch had probably gone through the windshield. Laughing darkly, he took off, not caring if the front of his SUV had been completely torn to shreds and destroyed.

Groaning, Juliana sluggishly opened her eyes, wincing at the huge gash that'd sliced across her forehead. She slowly, painfully unbuckled her seatbelt, body racked with insurmountable pain. Managing to open the door, Juliana stumbled out, coughing, and crawled on the grass before stumbling getting to her feet. It was nocturnal and the blood rushed down her face as she leaned against the car, pure adrenaline making her functional. She collapsed in the grass, finally losing her balance, and felt the darkness overtake her body. The last person she thought of was her bodyguard, the man that tried protecting her and that she loved, his name falling from her lips in a whisper.

"Taker…"

Undertaker groaned, his leg killing him, but picked up the pace when he seen Anderson drive off. He pulled out his gun and unloaded a clip in the back of the SUV, growling under his breath. "JULIANA!" He yelled, running as fast as he could down the road and then stumbled down into the ditch. He spotted her lying on the ground and dropped down beside her, checking for fractures, breaks, anything. "Come on, darlin', wake up." He murmured, feeling for her pulse, relief coursing through him when he found she had one, but it was weak.

"Taker…" She mumbled in the grass, knowing he probably hadn't heard her, and felt his hand checking her wrist for a pulse.

Grumbling softly, her head seared with splitting pain from the gash, and winced as the pain spread throughout her body. Her hair matted from the blood and haphazard, strewn all around her, the fading moonlight glinting the blood coating her forehead. Cursing, Undertaker wrapped his bandana around Juliana's forehead to stem the blood flow.

"Don't you dare die on me!" He ordered, noting the deep gash and assumed she had a concussion. "Keep awake!" Undertaker snapped, seeing her closing her eyes.

Lifting her into his arms, Undertaker slowly climbed out of the ditch, the car completely totaled. He looked up and down the road, knowing Juliana needed medical attention immediately, but didn't have a phone on him for once, not even thinking about that when she had ran away. The town was farther away than his house. Grunting in pain, he hauled ass down the road.

"I'm s-sorry…" Juliana stammered in a whisper, going in and out of consciousness, trying to fight off the darkness that threatened to consume her body. She finally couldn't do it as Undertaker held her closer to him, her arms becoming limp around his neck. "I love you…" She then went completely still in his arms, arms falling from his neck, and landed on her stomach while the other lay prone, head dropping back.

"Jules, wake up!" Undertaker ordered, gently laying her down in the grass and slapped her face, panic taking over him now. "Wake up!" He pleaded, cradling her head against his chest, knowing if she fell asleep now, she'd never wake up. "Jules, I love you too…" He confessed brokenly, tears stinging his eyes.

Undertaker finally admitted what had been plaguing him for a while, acknowledging it when it was too late. Cradling her against him, his eyes squeezed shut, fighting back the tears and anguish that the only woman he ever truly loved was currently dying in his arms. He failed her and Undertaker knew he would never forgive himself, ready to die alongside her if she didn't survive this. Undertaker tensed when he heard a horn blowing behind him seconds later.

"Taker! Is she alright?" John shouted from the driver's side of the truck. Undertaker stood to his feet, pulling Juliana's limp body in his arms, shocked to find John driving a pickup truck. He didn't say anything and got in, Juliana on his lap.

"I uh…borrowed this." John said, surveying the damage on Juliana, and swallowed hard as his stomach clenched violently. "Is she…"

"Hospital. Now."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Juliana lay prone in the hospital bed, trying to fight through the fog clouding her mind, hearing voices. She slowly flexed her fingers that lay on the bed at her sides, trying to fight, trying to walk towards the dim light. Wincing, the pain in her head throbbed and Juliana didn't know where she was. She reluctantly opened her eyes, finally finding light and blinked several times to clear her blurred vision, glancing around. An IV in her arm pumped fluids into her body and Juliana hissed out when another stab of pain shot through her, immediately shutting her eyes.

"Will someone turn off that goddamn light?!" She commanded angrily, her head pounding and sunk further into the bedding.

"Jules?"

John shot up from the chair he'd been fitfully dozing in, reaching out to dim the light enough to where it was mostly dark. Though it provided enough light for him to see her. He moved to stand at the side of the bed, taking her hand and squeezed it gently, tears shining in his eyes as relief coursed through his big body.

"God sis…you gave me such a damn scare. How are you feeling?" He asked quietly.

"Like I got ran over by a semi going about a hundred miles an hour." She groaned out and looked up into her best friend's eyes, cracking a weak smile. "Hey bro." She faintly whispered and grunted when he pulled her into his arms, John sitting on the hospital bed. Juliana didn't mind, enjoying the warm contact and coughed a little, holding him as tight to her as she could without hurting herself. "What happened?" She asked, once he released her.

John sighed, rubbing her back, almost afraid if he let her go he'd never see her again. "Well…from what Taker told me, Anderson ran his SUV into you, sending you into the ditch really hard. He hightailed it out of there. Taker got to you and started carrying you. I came up with a truck I…borrowed and we rushed you here." He hugged her gently. "You're banged up, got a concussion and will have a nasty scar on your forehead, but that can be taken care of with surgery."

Tears spilled down Juliana's bruised face as all the events came flooding back to her, crashing over her like an intense tsunami wave. "How long was I out for?" When John said three weeks, Juliana started crying hysterically, burying her face in her hands, and couldn't believe how stupid she'd been. Kenneth thought she was dead and, when Juliana was better, she would end this once and for all. "I want to get out of here please."

John nodded, already figuring that. "I got us an apartment to share, under new identities." He informed her softly. "Taker got us both some new identification, the works. You don't mind being Mrs. Coleman do you?" He made a face, matching hers. "I know the name sucks, but uh…honey…" Smiling playfully, John tried to lighten her mood a bit. "It'll work until you're one hundred percent, then we can take that bastard out."

Nodding, Juliana brushed her tears away and gingerly rose from the bed, ripping the IV out of her arm like she did so many times. It got old, but didn't stop the smirk from crossing her face when John handed her a bag of clothes. She immediately changed into a pair of black jeans with a black tank top, leaving her hair down, and slipped black steel toed boots on. Once dressed, Juliana took her best friend's hand and walked over to the window, looking up at him, her midnight blue eyes gleaming. "Think it's too high to jump from?"

"Actually now, we're on ground level." John smirked, opening the window for her. He watched as she stepped out and dropped down, following her. John handed her the bag and pulled a set of keys out of his back pocket, leading her around to the alleyway where a non-descriptive car sat. "Your chariot, Mrs. Coleman." He snorted. "There's even a wedding ring to go with it, if you want." He shook his head, watching as she slid in the passenger seat, letting him drive for a change.

Laughing ruefully, Juliana shook her head, snorting herself. "Lead on, Mr. Coleman." She half-joked, rolling her eyes and looked in the mirror.

The gash on her forehead hadn't been that bad, barely noticeable, definitely a plus. Juliana sighed with inner relief as she looked out the window, knowing how close she'd been to actually dying. Her mind instantly switched to Undertaker and his whereabouts, more than likely long gone. Juliana felt her heart twinge painfully; knowing he'd gotten hurt that night because of her stupidity.

Fresh tears slid silently down her cheeks because Juliana loved him and would more than likely never see him again. She'd told him how she felt, thinking she would die and felt like a complete fool for doing it. She shoved John's hand off of her shoulder when he tried to comfort her, not wanting to be touched or pitied.

"I'm fine, just drive."

John shook his head, having a fairly good idea what currently went through her mind and decided not to say anything. He'd wait for her to broach the subject first. Driving in silence, John took a lot of back streets until they pulled into a parking lot. He gestured up to the apartment complex before them, a grim smile on his face.

"It's one of those um…'lower class' places. We're supposed to be living incognito for now." He explained, quoting Undertaker's words at her. "But it came furnished quite nicely so…"

"I don't care about what class it is, John."

Juliana stepped out of the car once he parked and sighed heavily, wrapping her arms around herself. She was still weak, but had experienced worse. Following her 'husband' up to the apartment, Juliana walked inside cautiously, nodding in approval, and immediately started searching the place to make sure they were alone.

She needed a distraction to get her mind off of Undertaker. Something, anything! More tears stung the back of her eyes as Juliana walked into the bedroom and flicked the light on, seeing a simple bed, sinking down on it. Kenneth assuming he killed her would work in her favor, especially when Juliana took the son of a bitch out for good. After surveying the place himself, John locked the door and followed her, pulling blankets out of the closet.

"Are you hungry?" He asked softly, tucking them under his arm. "Jules…you've been living off of IV's for the past three weeks, let me nuke you something."

"I'm not hungry."

Standing, Juliana felt a wave of dizziness suddenly crash over her, stumbling a little, and managed to keep her balance. She ignored John's concerned expression and drew the shades closed in the windows before walking past him to the living room. Juliana proceeded to close all the shades, finally feeling a little more at ease when she was certain nobody could spy on them and finally relaxed.

"When do you want to go after Anderson?" She quietly asked, wanting to get it over with.

"Whenever you're ready to." John replied, shaking his head. "Though, I think you should at least take a couple of days to get back on your feet." He suggested, wishing she would for once listen to him. "Why don't we just hole up here for two or three days, you can relax and whatnot, then we'll get him?" He hoped she didn't argue with him.

"Fine."

As much as she hated admitting it, Juliana knew he was right. She couldn't push herself or else she'd regret it. Sighing, she laid down on the couch, curling up on it, and closed her eyes. Those emerald green eyes filled her mind, causing the tears to start falling freely, and wondered if he was safe. Juliana missed him, no matter what happened between them. She wanted to be in his arms and it really hurt that he hadn't been at the hospital when she woke up. Then again, his job was done. He'd protected her the best way he knew how and now it was up to her to finish this. Her and John. John hated seeing her cry and plucked a tissue off the box on the end table, mopping away her tears.

"You love him don't you?" He asked softly, staring down at her knowingly.

Juliana didn't answer as she turned around on the couch; her face buried in the cushion, and wrapped her arms around herself. She couldn't believe what had happened with Kenneth and everything. Nobody could predict Kenneth would actually ram into her car with his precious SUV, especially at the speed. She didn't know how fast he went, but it was faster than fifty miles an hour.

Lucky she had worn her seatbelt; Juliana knew if she hadn't been she would've flown through the windshield. Her head bounced off the wheel, which caused the huge gash to split open on her forehead. Other than that, it was just a lot of bumps and bruises. Closing her eyes, Juliana was safe and knew she had to sleep. Undertaker on her mind, she finally drifted off, wishing she was back in his arms again.

John would be lying if he said he wasn't a little concerned for Juliana. No, he was EXTREMELY concerned for her. She'd slept, thank god; though barely ate anything since coming out of her stupor. Juliana ignored his questions about Undertaker, both direct and beating around the bush kind. John swept down the kitchen; something to do because he needed a major distraction. They'd be going after Anderson soon and finding out who the mystery woman was. Everything boiled down to the climax, the end scene. All John could do was pray Juliana would live to see the end credits.

"Great…now I'm THINKING in metaphors…" He grumbled, sweeping up the floor more.

Juliana sat in the living room window that had a ledge on it, staring through the drawn blinds. It'd been three days since she'd escaped from the hospital, slowly regaining her strength. Tired of waiting, Juliana wanted to go after Kenneth now.

Wanting to end this once and for all, however, Juliana didn't know how to go about doing it. She had somewhat of an idea. Something along the lines of shooting the bastard and his accomplice right between their eyeballs, but that wouldn't solve anything.

Before murder, Juliana had questions that only Kenneth would answer. She wanted to know why he wanted her dead. She wanted to know the motives behind it, which is all she thought of for the past three days…that and Undertaker. Tears came to her eyes as his face flashed in her mind, the guilt overpowering her, knowing she hurt him. Juliana hadn't meant to fly off the deep end that night, but everything had moved too fast for her. She honestly didn't want to sleep with Undertaker for fear of a broken heart. Snorting, Juliana laughed bitterly at herself because it happened anyway and they hadn't slept together.

Irony was a bitch sometimes.

John glanced over at Juliana, tossing aside his cleaning rag and walked out. "There's a little deli across the street. You hungry?" He asked, having a pretty good feeling he already knew the answer, but had to try to get her to eat something, anything.

"I'm sick of waiting, John." Juliana finally spoke after a few moments of silence between them and slid off the ledge. She looked up at him, no emotion whatsoever in her blue eyes, and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I'm going to finish this tonight. You either stay behind or come with me, but one way or another, this ends tonight. I can't live like this anymore." Her tone was even, not even cracking or shaking, filled with deadly intentions and insurmountable determination.

John stared at her for a full minute before nodding, his jaw tightening, mouth compressing into one thin grim line. "You already know I got your back, Jules." He said just as evenly. "You plan on taking it to him then? To his place?"

"We need to stop at the mansion first. I need to do something before we go to his place." Juliana informed him, eyes turning frosty and tightened her fists at her sides, knowing John wanted to get his hands on Kenneth almost as badly as she did. She walked over, placing a hand on his arm and nodded once. "You will have your shot, I promise. Let me go change."

She then exited the living room and into the bedroom. Juliana left her black jeans on, but changed her red tank top to black, pulling on her leather jacket and left her hair down. She outlined her eyes in black liner, making them stand out, and slipped into her black steel toed boots. Tonight, it ended.

John sighed, heading off to change himself after she'd emerged, his shorts and no shirt not the best war gear. He pulled on a pair of dark blue jeans, a black beater, and a black denim coat. He got into a box under his bed and pulled out the gun Undertaker had given him the night Juliana nearly died. Sighing, he tucked it under his arm, wondering if Juliana had changed her mind any on her no gun policy. Something told him she'd love nothing more than to put a bullet in Anderson's head, along with his accomplice.

"You ready, Jules?" He called out, stepping out into the living room.

Nodding, she walked out of the bedroom, carrying the gun Undertaker tried giving her that night, much to John's shock. She smirked at him wickedly while running her fingertips over the deadly weapon. Not saying a word, Juliana simply strapped it to her thigh, Undertaker supplying the holster. Night had fallen; simply perfect in her eyes and it was time to leave.

"Let's go, we don't have much time." She stated, hoping the only blood shed this night was Kenneth Anderson's and his little bitch.

John sighed heavily; more than aware this wasn't his Juliana anymore. He slipped his own gun in his holster specially made for him and followed her, snatching the car keys off the peg on the wall. "Not planning on walking your ass all the way out there now are you?"

"No, but I figured you'd grab the keys, dumbass." She called over her shoulder, stepping into the parking garage, noting how murky and dreary it was.

It didn't bother her. Filled with vengeance, the only thing on her mind that night was revenge. Undertaker was the furthest from it, Juliana was that focused. John rolled his eyes, tempting to point out she was being majorly callous, but decided against it. For one, he knew why and two, he didn't want her to shoot him. He knew from firsthand experience how bad that hurt.

John just sucked it up and unlocked the car, slipping into the driver's side and waited patiently for her, his blue eyes focusing before him. A minute later, they pulled out of the parking lot, each in their own thoughts as silence reigned. Her eyes were glued to the window as John headed to the place she once called home.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

The tension on the ride to the mansion couldn't be cut with a knife, both on edge for what would occur tonight. When they arrived at the huge steel gates, Juliana told John the code and watched him punch it in. Instantaneously, the gates swung open and a computerized voice welcoming her on a last name basis. John drove through and parked the car at the curb as Juliana instruction, cutting the ignition. The night air cool, Juliana closed her eyes, letting it blow through her hair for a moment before finally opening them again. The smell of death filled her nostrils as they walked inside the mansion, knowing none of the doors were locked. She looked around, seeing absolutely nobody there, and headed upstairs without preamble.

Once they arrived on the second floor, Juliana headed for her bedroom and pushed open the cracked door, feeling sick to her stomach by what she found. It'd been completely demolished from the ceiling to the plush flooring; everything, even in her closet. Not surprised when she found the only thing that hadn't been destroyed was her wedding dress, Juliana yanked it from the hanger and closed the door behind her, leaving John to survey the damage. John swallowed hard, having seen the pictures of her room, but it just didn't compare to seeing the damage in person. The room was totaled and covered in dust. It looked like the entire house had been abandoned, staff and all. Clean, but dusty and the scent…he had to suppress a shudder and followed Juliana.

"What're you doing with that?" He asked curiously.

Not answering him, Juliana undressed, re-strapping the holster and gun to her leg and smoothed the wedding dress down her petite frame. It was simple and white, nothing special. Her shoulders were bare, the sleeves hanging off to the side on her arms. It had a V shaped neckline, the bodice fitting her to perfection since it was specially designed for her and expanded from the waist, a ball gown style. Juliana looked in the full length mirror, her eyes not holding one ounce of emotion and nodded grimly. Still wearing her black steeled toed boots, not caring how it looked, Juliana smirked coldly at the incredulous look John shot her.

"Let's go give my dear ex-fiancé a taste of his own medicine." She proposed with a serene smile on her face.

John shook his head at her. "Only you would wear a wedding dress to a damn massacre." He commented quietly, following her out.

His tennis shoes were a hell of a lot quieter on the floor then her heavy boots. John wasn't ashamed to admit he was more than happy to leave the mansion. The place gave him a serious case of the creeps, the smell of death sickening.

"Hey, he wanted a bride, but he didn't specify what kind." Juliana pointed out as they walked down the stairs of the mansion, the gown flowing behind her and kept her eyes peeled for any sudden movements.

Never again would she step foot in here again. Her childhood home. Juliana suddenly felt a twinge of remorse hit her along with nostalgia because she did have some good healthy memories. That quickly vanished when she remembered how much of a prisoner she'd been in this mansion and how many nights she had to sneak out just to have a peace of tranquility. She noticed John getting skittish and lead the way out, the full lit moon shining down on them. John opened the car door for her, his usual smartass grin firmly in place. Having always used his humor as a defense mechanism, John now used it to defend himself from worry and fears of this entire situation.

"Your chariot, Mrs. Coleman." He murmured, feeling her dress brush against him, making a soft noise that seemed overly loud.

Not saying a word, Juliana reached up and brushed her lips against his before wrapping her arms around his neck, hugging him close. "Thank you for everything, John." She whispered, pecking his neck and slid inside, shutting the door.

It was a good hour drive to the Anderson mansion and they would have to sneak their way in. Juliana had been there enough times to know the perfect place of entrance. She just wanted to get there and get this over with, to finally have her revenge and life back.

The dark figure waited patiently, sitting off to the side of the road on his motorcycle, legs firmly planted on either side of it. He rested his arms on the gas tank, leaning forward to stare off down the road. Green eyes narrowed when he thought he seen headlights, only for it to vanish a second later. He began to slowly grin, a bone chilling wicked grin. Leaning back, his huge frame and motorcycle blended in perfectly with the night, waiting.

The ride was made in silence once again and seemed like it took forever to arrive. Finally, they did and Juliana instructed John to pull off on a nearby curb near the back of the mansion. They were going in through the basement and would make their way up through the mansion that way. John cut the ignition as Juliana took a deep breath, seeing the apprehension in John's expression, and placed her hand over his.

"Last time." She promised and slowly opened the car door, stepping out, the moonlight giving her a luminescent glow, especially with the wedding gown and pale skin.

Acid eyes narrowed to dangerous slits when the dark figure spotted Juliana and John, shaking his head. The woman was still out of her mind, coming here looking like that. Though, knowing how stupid Kenny boy was, he'd probably peg her for a ghost. Not his accomplice though. His nostrils flared slightly as he slipped out of his own hiding places, still blending in with the shadows and followed. A ghostly presence is exactly what Juliana aimed for, wanting Kenneth to think her spirit had come back to haunt him. Juliana guided John to the back of the mansion, being careful to not be spotted. She smirked at the thought and worked her way around the property, abruptly halting.

Before John could speak a word, Juliana held her hand up, silencing him and felt as though they were being followed. Frowning, Juliana shook herself mentally and continued, finally finding what she had searched for.

"John, over here!" She whispered anxiously, barely audible, and pointed to the nearby window that lead to the basement. "This is the only way in."

John nodded, helping her to open it, holding his breath. The hairs on the back of his neck were starting to rise now, feeling like they were being watched as well. John helped her to gather up her wedding gown before she slipped through, shaking his head. With her black hair and boots, combined with the gown, she looked a bit like a wraith. Boy oh boy was Kenny going to piss himself when he saw her.

"Holy shit…" John muttered, staring around the basement with wide eyes, the moonlight shining through the window.

The basement was filled with junk that nobody would ever need, but they spotted a path clear enough to make their way through the garbage. Juliana looked back at John, nodding when they were both in, and kept the window open in case they had to make a quick escape. Slowly and carefully, Juliana made her way through the mess, trying with all her might not to make too much noise. She was silent as a cat and the darkness of the basement didn't faze her in the slightest. Her midnight blue eyes narrowed slightly when they arrived at the stairs, stopping for a moment.

This was it.

The Anderson mansion had no guards on the inside, mostly in the front, which showed the family's arrogance. John placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, squeezing softly, letting her know he was right there beside her. They'd been friends forever it seemed and he had always tried to be there for her. Tonight was no exception. His face was set into a determined mask, blue eyes steady and forbidding. Bending down to lightly kiss her shoulder, John placed his hand on the small of her back, urging her to go up the stairs, to end this once and for all with Kenneth Anderson.

Juliana patted his hand reassuringly before slowly making her way up the stairs, still feeling like they were being followed. She shook it off because it was just her and John, finally ascending the stairs. Ducking when a maid came by, Juliana hid behind a huge statue that littered the walls of the enormous corridor. John had remained downstairs halfway and

Juliana waved her hand, urging him on before continuing her journey with bated breath. Most of the maids and everyone were fast asleep for the night, with the exception of the one she'd barely came in contact with and a few guards outside, so they had virtually free excess. The hallway became darker as her eyes scanned it, still not making a sound and nodded when she felt John right beside her.

John frowned, cocking his head to the side when he thought he heard footsteps behind them. When he turned around to peer down the stairwell, just the darkness stared back at him. He held his breath, staring for a minute longer before shaking his head because he psyched himself out and that couldn't happen, not with Juliana's life on the line. John tensed at the sound of Anderson's voice echoing around them, bouncing off the hallway walls, and looked worriedly at Juliana. Having never been in here before, John assumed she knew where the creep was.

Truth be told, Juliana had no idea the location of Kenneth's room because she'd never been on the second floor. Something told her he was on the second floor and, when she heard his distant voice, her instincts had been right. Slowly making her way down the hallway, Juliana slipped her hand down her leg through the gown, checking to make sure her gun was still there. Midnight blue eyes narrowed slightly when she heard a woman's voice cackle throughout the hallway, sounding positively wicked yet familiar. Not giving John a backwards glance, Juliana ascended the stairwell that led to the third floor of the mansion.

John arched an eyebrow at the woman's voice, wondering just who the hell Kenneth had hired to help him. It was awfully soon for Anderson to be coming out of mourning for his dead fiancée. He felt for his own gun, glancing down at his goose bump covered arm and glowered, eyes narrowing to slits.

The dark figure behind them shook his head, remaining out of sight. Though he could see both plain as day through the darkness. He hadn't planned on being with Juliana at the end, but hadn't been able to walk away from her either. Try as he might to convince himself it was an obligation to her dead father he had to fulfill; it was a lie. The excuse of promising to protect Juliana crossed his mind as well, but that didn't work either.

Juliana felt her stomach tighten as the woman's voice drew near, causing her to stop, and leaned against the wall of the stairwell. Something was familiar, very familiar, but she couldn't place it. She took a few deep breaths and began moving again up the stairs and finally arrived on the third floor. Before them stood two huge double oak doors and Juliana could very plainly hear both of their voices behind it. She sighed, feeling John's hand on her shoulder and nodded back at him, but didn't reciprocate the motion. Tonight, everything ended and only two were walking out of there alive.

John frowned, not liking the sound of this woman's voice, and he'd bet everything he owned -granted it wasn't that much- that it had to be the other shooter. Kenny boy's accomplice. Tilting his head from side to side, feeling it crack almost soundlessly, John was prepared for anything. He kept his gun out of sight, but had a firm grip on it, not about to let anything happen to Juliana if he could help it.

Mentally counting to three, Juliana brought her foot up and kicked the doors open, causing Kenneth to spew out the wine he consumed and froze in her tracks. Tears instantly swelled in her eyes as Juliana covered her mouth with her hand, not believing who sat before her, shock enveloping her whole. The long blonde tresses and the eyes that mirrored her own…Juliana felt her entire body start to tremble as she stood in the doorway, John right behind her, and couldn't believe who Ken's accomplice had been.

It was her mother.

Kenneth blinked, wine dripping down his face and didn't care. He stared wide eyed in shock at Juliana, his dead fiancée. "You're dead!" He sputtered, quickly crossing himself as if that would protect him.

"I told you, you should have checked to make sure it was done properly!" Her mother, Cassandra, reprimanded with a shake of her head, taking another sip of her wine.

"I'm telling you she was dead! The way I hit her…"

"Well obviously you were wrong because there she is." There was a clicking noise, the safety of a gun being taken off.

Juliana felt the breath leave her body at the sight of her mother, hearing her words, and knew she wasn't dreaming. Her flesh and blood mother, who she thought was dead, sat before her and it felt as though Juliana's feet were cemented to the floor. Suddenly, something replaced inside of her, an aloofness she never expected to feel, and quickly dried the tears in her eyes.

"Hello honey, did you miss me?" Juliana asked coldly, a serene smile crossing her lips, and then turned to her mother. "Looks like you thought your daughter was dead and buried, just like I thought YOU were." Her tone was deceptively low and calm, haunting.

"Well we all make errors of judgment now don't we?" Her mother replied coldly, holding a gun aimed directly at Juliana's head. "Though, of course, I knew you weren't dead. You're simply too stubborn to take a hint. I always knew you'd be nothing, but a thick-headed little brat."

Kenneth slowly regained his composure, along with the color in his cheeks, realizing he'd been made a fool of and that didn't settle well with him. He took in her wedding dress and sneered, his gaze moving onto John.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, mother dearest." Juliana warned in that same tone of voice as John brought his gun out, clicking the trigger back and fired, causing the gun to fly out of Cassandra's hand. She smirked, not believing how well the aim was, -Undertaker had taught him well- and brought her dress up before ripping her own gun from the holster, aiming it an a pauper." Cassandra said indifferently, hatred in her blue eyes that mirror Juliana's. "When I left, I relinquished any monies I might have had, which all went to you. Legally, I am a widow now, fully recovered and fresh out of a coma that lasted for more than a decade. Nice story isn't it?"

Ken smirked sardonically. "You already know why I'm doing this, my dear. Vendettas never die. They're only harbored. Did you honestly think I wanted to unite our families? I'd love nothing more than to end the Harrison's and you're the last of them."

He arched an eyebrow at Cassandra, who smiled sweetly in return. The next minute, Kenneth had practically leapt over the desk and knocked the gun out of Juliana's hand, sending it flying across the room. Cassandra lunged for John, ducking when he aimed his gun at her head and tackled him. Grabbing his wrist she banged it against the hardwood floor until he released the weapon.

"Come on, darling…" Kenneth murmured, grabbing Juliana harshly by the wrists and dragging her out of the room. "Let's catch up."

"NO!" Juliana screamed out, trying to wrench her wrists free of his grasp, and cried out when he applied more pressure. "LET ME GO!"

She tried kicking him and cried out when he backhanded her across the face, causing her to crumble to the floor. Tears of pain and fright streamed down her face as Ken dragged her down the hallway, holding her face with her hand. The fight leaving her for the time being, hearing John's grunts of pain echoing back at her.

"JOHN!" She shrieked one last time as Kenneth forcefully took her to the fourth floor.

"John isn't going to help you." Kenneth said taciturnly, slapping her again.

He grunted, hoisting her up over his shoulder and smacked her backside as hard as he could repeatedly, ignoring her cries for help. Finally, Kenneth kicked open a door, stepping into his bedroom. He tossed her none too gently on the king sized bed, kicking the door shut behind him with the heel of his foot.

"Your wedding dress...how appropriate."

Juliana instantly backed up on the bed, completely trapped and nobody would save her. "You can do whatever you want to me. It won't make a difference. My father is dead and I don't care about the stupid family vendetta!"

Revulsion and anger flowed through her midnight blue eyes, her back connecting with the headboard. She looked toward the window, knowing if she jumped out of it, she'd leap to her death. It wasn't a bad idea because no way would she allow this monster to take her innocence. She'd rather die a virgin.

"I know you don't care, but I do and, frankly, that's all that really matters, Juliana." Kenneth replied apathetically, loosening his shirt.

Frowning, Kenneth cocked his head when he heard something outside the room. He walked over to his wardrobe, opening it and pulled out a .45 from the top shelf, shooting her a threatening look before glancing at the door.

Juliana watched him glance at the door and contemplated on whether or not to leap out of the window. She moved off the bed and went to grab the lamp, when a knife came whizzing past her, implanting into the wall. Midnight blue eyes widened in shock when the door creaked open seconds later and there stood Undertaker in the flesh. She felt her breath catch in her throat at the sight of him and shook her head in incredulity. Her heart skipped a few beats, finding it hard to breathe and Juliana managed to hop over the bed toward the window, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"You're not leaving so soon, are you Jules?" Undertaker asked sardonically, drawing another throwing dagger and tossed it up into the air, catching the blade between his fingers. He looked at Kenneth for a brief moment, flashing a pearly white smile that didn't reach his calculating acid eyes. "I want my money."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"HUH?" Kenneth gaped, aiming the now shaking gun at Undertaker, Juliana's supposed bodyguard.

Undertaker sighed mordantly, like he was dealing with a moron. "Who the hell do you think sent her out this way? Who do you think gave her the means to do all she's done? I personally hand delivered her to you. Now I want my money." He demanded in an even tone of voice.

Kenneth stared at Undertaker untrustingly, using both hands to steady the gun, wondering what the hell was going on. He shot a look back at Juliana, turning the gun onto her, scowling. "Don't move!"

Juliana couldn't believe what she heard. Undertaker was on Kenneth's side the entire time?! Juliana felt her heart shatter into a million pieces at that moment, her midnight blue eyes narrowing to dangerous slits, and wished she had followed her instincts about him. She'd fallen for it. She'd fallen for his ways and now she would die because of it.

"I trusted you! John trusted you!" She backed up further, face bruised from the backhanded blows Kenneth gave her, but they didn't even hurt at the moment. What hurt was the fact she fell in love with the man who'd betrayed her and John. "JOHN!" She screeched when she heard his muffled bellows followed by her mother's shrieks.

"Never trust a man who works in a profession where money is most definitely coin of the realm." Undertaker replied callously, not seeming upset by her outburst. He grinned cruelly when he heard her screams. "Sounds like your boy is getting his ass handed to him."

Kenneth looked back and forth between Undertaker and Juliana, slowly edging to the middle of the room, aiming the gun back and forth between them, his mind now reeling. "How much do I owe you?" He finally asked, glancing at Undertaker for only a second.

"That'll be settled after this business is handled." Undertaker replied ominously.

Juliana looked back into Undertaker's eyes and quickly looked away, not able to bear the sight of him. She felt sick to her stomach as she lost her breath, stumbling back a little, and closed her eyes tightly shut as more tears flowed down her cheeks. She opened them when she heard John and her mother making their way upstairs, trembling from head to toe. She'd made the mistake of wanting to know the reason why they wanted her dead and now she would pay for it.

"Just shoot me then, Anderson! Just end it!" She shouted, abhorred at the gun being aimed at her and nothing was happening. "At least I won't have to deal with this shit anymore and you can finally have what you want!"

"Actually, I had other plans for you before we got around to that." Kenneth smirked viciously, his eyes becoming distracted when Undertaker started tossing the knife into the air again. More than a little disturbed with the ease the man caught the sharp blade between his fingers.

"JULIANA! Bitch, get your crazy ass off of me!" John burst into the room, trying to throw Cassandra off his back, his face all scratched up from her sharp nails. He grunted, tossing her over his shoulder to the floor. "Fucking psycho bi-" He froze, sidestepping around Undertaker to move towards Juliana. "What the hell is going on here?"

Undertaker chuckled darkly, acid green eyes locking on John's confused blue ones amusedly. "You tell me boy." He retorted swiftly.

"John!" Juliana cried out, rushing over to him, not caring about Kenneth's gun and wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him tightly. "H-He's with them!" She choked out, crying harder, crumbling and froze when she felt the trigger click back. Juliana quickly turned around; blocking John from her sealed fate, and shoved him away from her when Kenneth let out a warning shot. "John, get out of here! He wants me! They want me bad enough, they can have me! GO NOW!" She ordered, pointing to the door and backed up by the window again, deciding being the martyr would be his only chance of survival.

"STOP HER!" Kenneth shouted, both him and Cassandra diving for John and Juliana, not that hard since John hadn't bothered to move.

Undertaker shook his head, watching the mayhem and utter chaos. His green eyes narrowed when Cassandra went for John's face again, wondering just why Juliana didn't inherit some of that viciousness. If she had, she might still had a chance at living. He cleared his throat, smirking cruelly when Kenneth shot him an apprehensive look before going back to knocking Juliana around. He tightened his grip on the knife blade, preparing to throw, his eyes locking in on Juliana.

The target.

Her heart thundered in her ears as Juliana moved closer to the window, not taking her eyes from Undertaker or his knife. Her eyes locked on his, icicles shooting in his direction and swallowed hard, knowing this was it. This is when her life would end, but Juliana would be damned if she didn't get the last word.

"I hate you. I hope you rot in hell for what you've done."

Closing her eyes, Juliana allowed the tears to cascade down her cheeks, finally accepting her fate. How could she fight off this monster who promised to protect her from Kenneth? It was impossible and she knew John couldn't help her either. John looked up in time to see another knife appear in Undertaker's hand, swallowing hard. He shoved Cassandra away from him, moving towards Juliana, determined to die either making an attempt to save her or at her side.

"I WANT TO KILL HER!" Cassandra shrieked, seeing Undertaker's knives and snatched the gun from Kenneth's grip.

"No, damn it! I'm doing it! She's a Harrison and it's my-"

The words died in Kenneth's throat as a knife embedded itself in his heart. He looked down at his chest, confusion registering on his face. Juliana's eyes shot open in shock, her mouth dropping open, and blinked as she stood there. She'd opened her eyes just in time to witness Undertaker throw the knife, embedding it into Ken's heart instead of her own. She seen her mother's shocked face and the gun on the ground that John had tried shooting her with, immediately picking it up, aiming at her.

"Goodbye mother."

Juliana fired, the bullet lodging right in her black heart, and watched as her mother crumbled on the bed alongside Kenneth. Very fitting indeed. She tossed the gun on the floor, shaking from head to toe and looked over at John, both of them completely dumbfounded. John could only stand there aghast, finally moving to take her in his arms. He grunted at suddenly being stunted aside by the still not quite dead Kenneth, who wrapped his now bloody hands around Juliana's neck.

"You b-bitch! You'll d-die with me!" Kenneth rasped out, squeezing her neck tightly.

Undertaker sighed, tossing the other dagger, this time getting Kenneth in the back of his neck. He calmly walked across the room and pulled it back out, stepping away as the blood spurted out. "I like this one." He said emotionlessly, watching Kenneth's carcass drop.

Then he turned his green eyes onto Juliana, hesitation in them. She coughed a little from Kenneth's tight grip and watched as her dead fiancé crumbled at her feet, his blood staining her dress. Juliana immediately stumbled back from him, John catching her, and couldn't take it anymore. She started crying hysterically, everything crashing over her, and shoved him aside before running out of the room.

Flying down the winding staircase, tears streamed down her face and blurred her vision, causing Juliana to stumble as she fell, thanks to the wedding gown. She quickly scrambled up and managed to make it down the third flight of stairs, needing to get out of this mansion. Her mind whirled as she gripped her hair in her hands, not knowing what to believe anymore.

Undertaker didn't bother checking on John. He flew out after Juliana, knowing she would hurt herself if she didn't calm her panicky ass down. He sighed, gripping the staircase railing in one hand and vaulted himself over it, landing right in front of her. Crouching down to keep his balance, Undertaker caught her in his arms, not letting her go.

"Calm down, Jules! I'm not going to hurt you!" He soothed, letting her start punching him with her tiny fists. "Jules…if I wanted you dead, you'd be dead. You know this…"

"I don't know what to believe anymore!" Juliana cried, continuing to hit him as hard as she could before finally sagging, breathing heavily.

Without warning, Juliana tossed her arms around his neck tightly, pressing her body to his as she started sobbing aggressively. She buried her face in the crook, her entire body trembling from head to toe, and finally felt herself crumble as her knees gave out. Juliana wanted to hit him so hard he saw stars, but at the same time, she wanted to hold him and never let go.

Option two won out obviously, not sure if she did the right thing, but Juliana could already feel her heart mending back into place. Undertaker picked her up in his arms when he felt her knees buckle, holding her up against him, one arm under her legs and the other supporting her back. He shot John a warning look when the man appeared, holding a knife.

"You throw that son and you better hope you're a better shot then I am." He presaged gravely.

John dropped the knife instantly. "Whose side are you on?" He demanded, looking totally bewildered by now.

"The same side I've always been on. Mine." Undertaker lowered his gaze to Juliana's face, running a finger down her cheek. "Yours."

Juliana couldn't say a word and just held Undertaker tighter. He'd been on her side the entire time. He'd managed to break and mend her heart in a matter of minutes all to stop Kenneth and…her mother. It was too much for Juliana to handle. She was both thrilled and angry because he'd forced her to say she hated him when she really didn't. She didn't hate him. She loved him. Doing that had been the worst and best thing he could've done, hot tears beat down on his neck.

"Come on…Let's get the hell out of here." Undertaker ordered, heading down the last flight of steps, with John following.

"So…the entire time you were just messing with them?"

"You don't miss much, do you kid?"

"I'm just trying to get my ducks in a row. You looked like you were on their side." John said defensively, wondering how the hell things got so mixed up.

"Which is why I killed Anderson?"

"He's on our side, John." Juliana quietly spoke, pulling her head out of the crook, and rested her head on his shoulder. "He's always been on our side."

She sniffled a little and closed her eyes, more tears spilling down her cheeks and clung to him for dear life. John sighed heavily, his mind totally blown now. He didn't say another word, trusting Juliana's judgment and followed them out with Undertaker leading the way.

"You were following us weren't you?" It wasn't a question and more than explained the crept out feeling they both had in the basement of the Anderson mansion.

"I had to make sure you two didn't get your fool asses killed." Undertaker replied casually, opening the backseat of the car and gently lay Juliana down. "You honestly think you'd gotten rid of me?"

"Hoped, maybe."

"I didn't know what to think." Juliana whispered softly, leaning her head against the window, the tears not stopping.

This was it for them. Undertaker had done what he promised in helping them stop Anderson and his accomplice. She looked into his emerald green eyes and felt her heart start to shatter, wanting to be with him. Juliana wanted him and only him. Not saying another word as he finally released her, Juliana glanced down at her gown and felt sick by the blood splattered on it.

Undertaker closed the car door, turning to look at John. "Get her back to the apartment." He ordered austerely.

"What're you gonna do? Walk out on her again?" John demanded, not moving an inch.

"I'll be around, but you need to get her out of here before the staff wises up and calls the cops." Undertaker's green eyes narrowed when John didn't move. "GET HER OUT OF HERE, DAMN IT!"

He shoved John back toward the car. John's eyes widened, about to say something, but heard the house alarms going off, lights flashing everywhere and screams coming from inside. He nodded and hauled ass down the street, not giving a backwards glance. They made it back to the apartment unscathed. Nobody would ever know it had been them that killed Kenneth and Cassandra. At least, that's what John hoped. Juliana just stared out the window, trying to soothe her broken heart, and let out a shaky sigh. John stopped the car as she slowly sat up and got out after he extended his hand to her. She didn't say a word and walked up to the apartment, hoping they didn't wake any of the neighbors. Walking inside after John unlocked the door, Juliana headed straight to the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her. She tore the wedding dress off of her, tears streaming down her face and felt a little more of her heart crack.

~!~

Undertaker sighed, rubbing the heel of his hand against his forehead. He'd spent the last four hours dressed in a black business suit, carrying a black briefcase, his hair pulled back with shades over his eyes, looking like a complete buffoon in his opinion. But it'd been worth it. He'd come in acting like he owned the place, flashing some identification that had made the local police officers and detectives take a few steps back and basically implanted what had happened in their minds. What would be hitting the papers would not mention how three other people had been there. No proof. Everything that could possibly link them to the murder had been destroyed. He sighed again, slipping off the tie he wore and stuffed in it his back pocket. If Juliana kept her head low for a month or two, she'd remain in the clear.

~!~

Juliana changed into a pair of pajama pants that were white with a matching tank top before collapsing on the bed after an hour long shower, the tears never stopping. She'd ordered John to burn the wedding dress, not wanting any reminder of what had happened on this night. Snuggling into the pillow, Juliana sighed with a heavy heart, closing her eyes. She knew she could finally sleep in peace because nobody would kill her. However, what Juliana wanted more than anything was to be in Undertaker's arms again.

"I love you, Taker…" She whispered softly, pulling the comforter over her body, and stared straight ahead at the wall.

"I love you too, darlin'." Undertaker said just as softly, leaning in the bedroom doorway.

Making a stop to shower and discard those clothes, Undertaker got rid of the identification, briefcase, and anything that would link him to the mysterious agent from earlier. Now, he wore a pair of tight fitting black jeans and a black leather vest, boots, his hair hanging back in a loose tail at the nape of his neck.

Juliana heard that and shot up on the bed, her midnight blue eyes widening at the sight of Undertaker. Immediately bounding off the bed, Juliana jumped into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck, her legs around his waist. She started crying, wet black hair falling down her back and ran her hand up and down his chest, making sure he was really here, that this wasn't a cruel mirage.

"I'm so sorry…" She whispered, squeezing her eyes shut, exhaling shakily.

Undertaker was more than a little shocked with what she did, not sure what he expected, but it definitely wasn't this. His arms instantly, as if with a mind of their own, wrapped around her, holding her tightly against him. It baffled Undertaker how much he missed this petite woman and knew she had bewitched him somehow, the guilt still eating away at him for what he did to her at the safe house.

"What do you have to be sorry for, Jules?" He whispered, kissing the side of her head tenderly.

"I never meant to hurt you. I never meant to run away. I was scared and confused; I didn't know how you felt." She said in a rush of words and buried her face in the crook of his neck, never wanting to leave his arms again. She wanted to wake up every morning in his arms and fall asleep in them every night for the rest of her life. "I'm so sorry…" She repeated repeatedly, her tears burning his skin.

"Hey, hey stop crying, darlin'. I'm not mad at you." Undertaker soothed, stroking her back gently. "I scared you…and for that I'm sorry." He looked ashamed of himself, which didn't happen very often. "Can you forgive me for what I did to you, Juliana?"

"I forgave you long ago." She confessed, breathing in and out raggedly and ran her fingers through his damp tresses, sighing in contentment. "I love you, Taker. Please don't leave me again." That thought nearly drove her to knees, scared it would happen. "Don't leave me." She pleaded in a whisper, knowing if he left for a third time, it would possibly kill her.

"I never really left you, darlin'." Undertaker whispered, slowly sitting down on the bed with Juliana in his lap. "I've been watching you since you jumped out of that hospital window." He smiled slightly. "I had a feeling you'd be doing that which is why you were in a first floor room." He sighed, running his fingers through her hair. "I'm not going anywhere, Jules. I'm here to stay, if you'll have me."

"I love you, Taker." She whispered, raising her head up from his neck, and stared into his eyes. "You're all that I'm living for now."

Juliana pressed her forehead to his, sniffling a little and wrapped her arms around his neck, brushing their lips together softly. They both finally found what they'd been searching for all along in each other. To find that one person who completed them in every way possible. Now that Kenneth and Cassandra were dead, they were living for each other. It was all they were living for and it would stay that way, even after death.

The End.


End file.
